“Ceea ce numim cultură e în realitate un lung proces de selecție și de cernere.”
“In the Catskills, nostalgia runs backwards. The upwardly mobile Jewish masses of the 1950s and 1960s have been replaced by the Jews of 19th century Poland.”
“កត្តាដែលភ្លេចអក្សរសាស្រ្តជាតិរបស់ខ្លួនហ្នឹង អាចនឹងធ្វើឲ្យពួក គេថ្ងៃក្រោយមិនអាចដឹងនូវ ដើមកំណើតឫសនៃមូលដ្ឋានជាតិរបស់គេនោះ កូនចៅខ្មែរក្រោមអាចនឹងកា្លយជាជនជាតិវៀត ណាមទៅវិញ ។ I think in the future, the younger generation of Khmer Krom people could forget the Cambodian national literature. They won’t know about their roots and the basics of Khmer. I’m afraid that the Khmer Krom youth can easily become Vietnamese.”
“Art for Art’s Sake is for the well fed. The well fed are all the babies in cradles and my kitty along with them, and I am happy if my writings are for my kitty.”
“Have you heard, he said that many of our people believe if you know five colloquial expressions in their tribal language, they must always provide you with nourishment and shelter? But- He paused as though to make sure she was paying attention. But if you know fewer than five, they owe you not even a sip of water. She nodded, understanding his point, but he pressed it. Learn those five phrases, Miss Sweeney, he said.”
“Even their insistence on educating their children, the last reflex of any exploited group before it sank into submission, marked the end of their resistance.”
“No culture on earth is as heavily narcotized as the industrial West in terms of being inured to the consequences of maladaptive behavior. We pursue a business-as-usual attitude in a surreal atmosphere of mounting crises and irreconcilable contradictions.”
“It is necessary to have “watchers” at hand who will bear witness to the values of Tradition in ever more uncompromising and firm ways, as the anti-traditional forces grow in strength. Even though these values cannot be achieved, it does not mean that they amount to mere “ideas.” These are MEASURES…. Let people of our time talk about these things with condescension as if they were anachronistic and anti-historical; we know that this is an alibi for their defeat. Let us leave modern men to their “truths” and let us only be concerned about one thing: to keep standing amid a world of ruins.”
“And she says she wants to expose me to all these great things. And to tell you the truth, I don t really want to be exposed to all these great things if it means that I ll have to hear Mary Elizabeth talk about all the great things she exposed me to all the time. I don t understand that. I would give someone a record so they could love the record, not so they would always know that I gave it to them.”
“Misunderstanding a culture s symbols is a common root of predujice.”
“ I feel certain that Conservatism is through unless Conservatives can demonstrate and communicate the difference between being concerned with [the unemployed, the sick without medical care, human welfare, etc.] and believing that the federal government is the proper agent for their solution.”
“A nation lives forever through its concepts, honour, and culture. It is for these reasons that the rulers of nations must judge and act not only on the basis of physical and material interests of the nation but on the basis of the nation s historical honour, of the nation s eternal interests. Thus: not bread at all costs, but honour at all costs.”
“[N]othing about a book is so unmistakable and so irreplaceable as the stamp of the cultured mind. I don t care what the story is about or what may be the momentary craze for books that appear to have been hammered out by the village blacksmith in a state of intoxication; the minute you get the easy touch of the real craftsman with centuries of civilisation behind him, you get literature.”
“Novelty is a new kind of loneliness.”
“The world of the Takers is one vast prison, and except for a handful of Leavers scattered across the world, the entire human race is now inside that prison. [...] Naturally a well-run prison must have a prison industry. I m sure you see why. Well... it helps to keep the inmates busy, I suppose. Takes their minds off the boredom and futility of their lives. Yes. Can you name yours? Our prison industry? Not offhand. I suppose it s obvious. Quite obvious, I would say. I gave it some thought. Consuming the world. Ishmael nodded. Got it on the first try.”