“Nations, like men, are wary of truth, for truth is too often not beautiful.”
“The worst form of equality is to try to make equal things that are their reciprocal opposite complimentary.”
“The introduction of free competition is thus public declaration that from now on the members of society are unequal only to the extent that their capitals are unequal, that capital is the decisive power, and that therefore the capitalists, the bourgeoisie, have become the first class in society.”
“It is clear that corporate America has an obligation to create a fairer, more equitable, more sustainable economy for no other reason than self-preservation.”
“Moreover, I believe that part of America s genius has always been its ability to absorb newcomers, to forge a national identity out of the disparate lot that arrived on our shores. In this we ve been aided by a Constitution that--despite being marred by the original sin of slavery--has at its very core the ideas of equal citizenship under the laws; and an economic system that, more than any other, has offered opportunity to all comers, regardless of status or title or rank.”
“Candor is a compliment; it implies equality. It s how true friends talk.”
“Change comes, when every person is adequately benefited. We keep hearing about “change.” Change will never come to all of society. Change can only come when the market system adequately provide all of the needs for all people. Millions are living in poverty in the United States and throughout the world, due to “change” passed them by, are struggling: Among them are high unemployment, the mentally challenged, poor education, many of them are homeless and hungry, sick and tired; such individuals, look for ways to move beyond their prison walls that hold them back from moving forward: Through the corridors of their prison, they observe the wealthy getting wealthier. They see the market system passing them at a fast rate of speed. Hope has long left the majority of them. There is a price that must be paid for the sins of those who have built these prisons.”
“…evangelicals were instrumental in advancing the ideal of companionate marriage, one built on shared faith and mutual affection, a revolutionary notion in an era in which forced marriages were a not-so-distant memory.”
“Sometimes life takes unexpected turns. Sometimes we hide the very core of our existence because we fear the judgment of others. Sometimes the universe shifts and we are provided with a brief moment to begin anew. These moments allow us to become fearless and let our perfectly created souls shine.”
“Every king springs from a race of slaves, and every slave had kings among his ancestors.”
“Aequat omnes cinis.”
“Clearly it s not easy for women in modern society, no matter where they live. We still have to go the extra mile to prove that we are equal to men. we have to work longer hours and make more sacrifices. And we must emotionally protect ourselves from unfair, often vicious attacks made on us via the male members of our family.”
“I ll be the first to admit that I have no experience with relationships. But it just seems logical…a man and woman have to be somewhat equal…as in, one of them can t always be swooping in and saving the other one. They have to save each other equally.”
“I hope I’m being clear, I didn’t say I hate feminists, that would be weird. I said I hate feminist. I’m talking about the word. I have the privilege living my life inside of words and part of being a writer is creating entire universes, and that s beautiful, but part of being a writer is also living in the very smallest part of every word. ...But the word feminist, it doesn t sit with me, it doesn t add up. I want to talk about my problem that I have with it. ...Ist in it s meaning is also a problem for me. Because you can t be born an ist. It s not natural... So feminist includes the idea that believing men and women to be equal, believing all people to be people, is not a natural state. That we don t emerge assuming that everybody in the human race is a human, that the idea of equality is just an idea that s imposed on us. That we are indoctrinated with it, that it s an agenda... ...My problem with feminist is not the word. It s the question. Are you now, or have you ever been, a feminist? The great Katy Perry once said—I m paraphrasing— I m not a feminist but I like it when women are strong. ...Don t know why she feels the need to say the first part, but listening to the word and thinking about it, I realize I do understand. This question that lies before us is one that should lie behind us. The word is problematic for me because there s another word that we re missing... ...When you say racist, you are saying that is a negative thing. That is a line that we have crossed. Anything on the side of that line is shameful, is on the wrong side of history. And that is a line that we have crossed in terms of gender but we don t have the word for it... ...I start thinking about the fact that we have this word when we re thinking about race that says we have evolved beyond something and we don t really have this word for gender. Now you could argue sexism, but I d say that s a little specific. People feel removed from sexism. ‘I m not a sexist, but I m not a feminist. They think there s this fuzzy middle ground. There s no fuzzy middle ground. You either believe that women are people or you don t. It s that simple. ...You don’t have to hate someone to destroy them. You just have to not get it. ...My pitch is this word. ‘Genderist.’ I would like this word to become the new racist. I would like a word that says there was a shameful past before we realized that all people were created equal. And we are past that. And every evolved human being who is intelligent and educated and compassionate and to say I don t believe that is unacceptable. And Katy Perry won t say, I m not a feminist but I like strong women, she ll say, I m not a genderist but sometimes I like to dress up pretty. And that ll be fine. ...This is how we understand society. The word racism didn t end racism, it contextualized it in a way that we still haven t done with this issue. ...I say with gratitude but enormous sadness, we will never not be fighting. And I say to everybody on the other side of that line who believe that women are to be bought and trafficked or ignored...we will never not be fighting. We will go on, we will always work this issue until it doesn t need to be worked anymore. ...Is this idea of genderist going to do something? I don t know. I don t think that I can change the world. I just want to punch it up a little.”
“What if we all stopped fighting to belong and realized that we already do? What if we acknowledged, in each interaction with ourselves and with others, the eternal, beautiful interconnected energy that flows between us? What if we recognized our equality and celebrated our differences? Imagine how the world could be.”
“There is no need to become unique. We already are unique. There is no need to become equal. We already are equal. The greatest tragedies of humankind have come from people trying to force sameness on the level we are different, and trying to become different on the level we are the same. Peace is a matter of recognizing what is already there, not creating something new.”
“Peter, you re not crazy, William said. Nobody s really crazy. That s just a word. Isn t it, Torey? Just a word. And nobody s a word.”