From ruminations on the multitude of influences on society, to her own life experiences as an author, educator, and her personal insight into various topics and issues.
Jan 16, 2025
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Her writings speak directly to our generation and the consequences of the times we live in. Read it if your interested in preserving the future of time, a future longer than our past and plans/actions not just pertinent to our biological lifespans but to THE children of the world for 100s of generations ahead and more. We don’t have to accept the end of times narrative, we can decided that it’s the end of thier time and the beginning of ours; a time more hospitable to the human race, a time where comforts don’t depend on the misery of others 🧡
Oct 6, 2024
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"The more money an American accumulates, the less interesting he becomes."
“I'm not a conspiracy theorist - I'm a conspiracy analyst.”
“One is sorry one could not have taken both branches of the road. But we were not allotted multiple selves.”
“The unfed mind devours itself.”
“Until very recently, the artist was a magician who did his magic in public view but kept himself and his effects a matter of mystery.”
“Yes. With us the ability to detect mediocrity or anything else is rare. Evaluation descends, through ignorance, to mere opinion, and opinion is a matter of fashion. And fashion is based on middle-class, middlebrow values, despite the mock defiance of an occasional licensed fool, like Vonnegut.”
“Self-education is the point of education. But it is easier if you have escaped the stifling of the academy.”
“The critic must know more than either writer or academic. He must also value experience and have a truth-telling nature. I think I have that. In their youth most people worry whether or not other people will like them. Not me. I had the choice of going under or surviving, and I survived by understanding (after the iron - if not the silver — had entered my soul) that it is I who am keeping score. What matters is what I think, not what others think of me; and I am willing to say what I think. That is the critical temperament.”
"You can improve your talent, but your talent is a given, a mysterious constant. You must make it the best of its kind."
— Gore Vidal, my toxic opinionated egocentric guiding light in this sick sad world (quotes which are not broadly inspirational but are inspirational to me to be my best most audacious evil hater self)
May 27, 2024
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as someone who works adjacent to higher ed i often think about this. but i also always recall this toni morrison quote:
“I tell my students, 'When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else. This is not just a grab-bag candy game.”
as someone who wants my career to be rooted in my ethics, i def have a very “be the change you want to see in the world” sort of outlook. it may be a bit corny but it def helps me navigate all these opposing issues alongside my personal beliefs. i think the “no ethical consumption under capitalism” idea is often be used by others to be dismissive of working toward change, but i also think, in your case, this phrase applies.
May 18, 2024
