Sandy

“No matter our personal dedication to goodness and justice, we are all, in greater or lesser measure, complicit in the injustices of the society which we tolerate. Even if we tolerate it for the best of reasons, it is a constant struggle not to be consumed by the self-contempt that such accommodation threatens to breed in any person of conscience.”
― Charles E. Gannon, 1636: Calabar's War

“Because in my experience, patriotism, while a fine quality, can fuel quite a dangerous agenda if taken to the extreme.”
― David Baldacci, The Escape

“Your society, at least what I have observed of it, seems not to understand the fundamental inconsistency between individual freedom and the common welfare. The two must be carefully balanced. No group can survive, let alone thrive, unless what is good for the overall community is more important than individual freedom. Take, for example, resource allocation. How can anyone with any intelligence possibly justify, in terms of the overall community, the accumulation and hoarding of enormous material assets by a few individuals when others do not even have food, clothing, and other essentials?”
― Arthur C. Clarke, Rama Revealed

“I think if you did, you might not be shocked by it. Teachers are expected to do more and more, and much of the parenting authority has been ceded to us by the parents. In the media they call it teacher accountability, but really it’s a lack of parent accountability. There’s no respect anymore. I’m afraid I find the violence in this case shocking but not exactly the murder itself. Does that make sense?”
― James Patterson, Haunted