–Albert Einstein
Human Nature
783 – James Madison on Factionalism and Partisanship
“The latent causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man; and we see them everywhere brought into different degrees of activity, according to the different circumstances of civil society. A zeal for different opinions concerning religion, concerning government, and many other points, as well of speculation as of practice; an attachment to different leaders ambitiously contending for pre-eminence and power; or to persons of other descriptions whose fortunes have been interesting to the human passions, have, in turn, divided mankind into parties, inflamed them with mutual animosity, and rendered them much more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to co-operate for their common good. So strong is this propensity of mankind to fall into mutual animosities, that where no substantial occasion presents itself, the most frivolous and fanciful distinctions have been sufficient to kindle their unfriendly passions and excite their most violent conflicts. But the most common and durable source of factions has been the various and unequal distribution of property. Those who hold, and those who are without property, have ever formed distinct interests in society.”
–James Madison, 4th President of the United States of America
661 – “People don’t want to hear the truth because they don’t want their illusions destroyed.”
–anonymous
609 – “And in the end, we were all just humans, drunk on the idea that love, only love, could heal our brokenness.”
–Christopher Poindexter
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496 – Margaret Fuller Quote
“Every relation, every gradation of nature is incalculably precious, but only to the soul which is poised upon itself, and to whom no loss, no change, can bring dull discord, for it is in harmony with the central soul.
If any individual live too much in relations, so that he becomes a stranger to the resources of his own nature, he falls, after a while, into a distraction, or imbecility, from which he can only be cured by a time of isolation, which gives the renovating fountains time to rise up. With a society it is the same.”
–Margaret Fuller
479 – “Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.”
–Douglas Adams
390 – “I don’t know how to save the world. I don’t have the answers or the Answer. I hold not secret knowledge as to how to fix the mistakes of generations past and present. I only know that without compassion and respect for all of Earth’s inhabitants, none of us will survive – nor will we deserve to. The future, our mutual future, the future of all the peoples of humanity, must be founded on respect… We are in this together – the rich, the poor, the red, the white, the black, the brown, and the yellow. We are all one family of humankind. We share responsibility for our Mother Earth and for all those who live and breathe upon her… I believe in the good in humankind. I believe that the good can prevail, but only with great effort. And that effort is ours, each of ours, yours and mine.”
–Leonard Peltier
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318 – “War is mankind’s most tragic and stupid folly; to seek or advise its deliberate provocation is a black crime against all men.”
–Dwight Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States of America
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308 – “The strongest drug that exists for a human is another human being.”
–anonymous
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252 – “It’s okay to dislike someone, or even to dislike someone for no reason. But it is not okay to disrespect, degrade, or humiliate that person.”
–anonymous
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