“In Denmark, “social trust”—a general feeling that you trust your fellow citizens and the pillar institutions of government, law courts, police, hospitals, and so on—is generally found to be the highest in the world. A perfect example of Danish “social trust” is the image of babies sleeping in carriages outside a restaurant while the parents eat inside. You might say, “But no one is watching!” A Dane will say, “Everyone is watching.”
― Travel as a Political Act
― Travel as a Political Act
“Europeans marvel at how Americans seem willing, almost eager, to work themselves into an early grave. My European friends have told me proudly, “We don’t live to work…we work to live.”
― Travel as a Political Act
― Travel as a Political Act
“Travelers recognize that the results of an election here in the US can have a greater impact on poor people half a world away than it does on middle-class American voters. My travels have taught me that, even if motived only by greed, you don’t want to be really rich in a desperately poor world. With this in mind, I think of it not as noble or heroic, but simply pragmatic to bring a compassion for the needy along with me into the voting booth.”
― Travel as a Political Act
― Travel as a Political Act
“Virtue is like a rich stone, best plain set.”
― The Essays
― The Essays
What's the Name of That Book???
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Beth’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Beth’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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