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“TO BE HOPEFUL in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”
―
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”
―
“Do not obey in advance.
Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.”
― On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do.”
― On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
“A funny thing happened to the First Amendment on its way to the public forum. According to the Supreme Court, money is now speech and corporations are now people. But when real people without money assemble to express their dissatisfaction with the political consequences of this, they’re treated as public nuisances and evicted.”
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“The other nine, decent, hard-working, ordinarily intelligent and honest men, did not know before 1933 that Nazism was evil. They did not know between 1933 and 1945 that it was evil. And they do not know it now. None of them ever knew, or now knows, Nazism as we knew and know it; and they lived under it, served it, and, indeed, made it.”
― They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933–45
― They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933–45
“Did they know what Communism, “Bolshevism,” was? They did not; not my friends. Except for Herr Kessler, Teacher Hildebrandt, and young Horstmar Rupprecht (after he entered the university, in 1941), they knew Bolshevism as a specter which, as it took on body in their imaginings, embraced not only the Communists but the Social Democrats, the trade-unions, and, of course, the Jews, the gypsies, the neighbor next door whose dog had bit them, and his dog; the bundled root cause of all their past, present, and possible tribulations.”
― They Thought They Were Free: The Germans 1933-45
― They Thought They Were Free: The Germans 1933-45
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Cheryl’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Cheryl’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
Favorite Genres
Biography, Classics, Contemporary, Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Historical fiction, History, Mystery, Non-fiction, Science, Science fiction, Suspense, Nazis, holocaust, russia, catholic, european-history, espionage, knitting, military-history, nazi-party, quilting, soviet-history, christmas, american-history, american-classics, cats, british-literature, european-literature, local-history, government, sewing, german-literature, germany, english-literature, ireland, world-war-ii, wwii-related-fiction, time-travel, world-war-i, scotland, funny, speculative-fiction, spanish-literature, language, russian-history, dressmaking, spy-thriller, education, sociology, historical-romance, young-readers, childrens, westerns, western-historical-romance, time-travel-romance, and geography
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![चिना हराएको मान्छे [China Harayeko Manchhe] by Hari Bansha Acharya चिना हराएको मान्छे [China Harayeko Manchhe] by Hari Bansha Acharya](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1367504696l/17878202._SX98_.jpg)
