Love consists in leaving the loved one space to be themselves while providing the security within which that self may flourish.
Tony JudtRead
I was born in 1948, so I'm a '60s kid, and in the '60s everyone talked all the time, endlessly, about socialism versus capitalism, about political choices, ideology, Marxism, revolution, 'the system' and so on.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the intense ideological debates of the 1960s, emphasizing the significance of political discourse during that time.
Tony Judt reflects on his experiences growing up in the 1960s, a decade characterized by fervent discussions surrounding major political ideologies such as socialism and capitalism. He suggests that the culture of open debate and the exploration of revolutionary ideas were defining features of that era, illustrating how these discussions shaped the political landscape and influenced people's thoughts and actions.
In practice
In a discussion on political science, this quote can highlight the importance of ideology in shaping societies.
Love consists in leaving the loved one space to be themselves while providing the security within which that self may flourish.
If active or concerned citizens forfeit politics, they thereby abandon their society to its most mediocre and venal public servants
Obviously a primary liberal conviction is that we should be tolerant of other peoples' convictions. But if we believe in something, we had better find ways to say so convincingly.
Social democracy does not represent an ideal future; it does not even represent the ideal past.
What I am against is false optimism: the notion either that things have to go well, or else that they tend to, or else that the default condition of historical trajectories is characteristically beneficial in the long-run.
I'm not sure I've learned anything new about life; but I've had to think harder about death and what comes after for other people.
ROMANCE, n. Fiction that owes no allegiance to the God of Things as They Are. In the novel the writer's thought is tethered to probability, but in romance it ranges at will over the entire region of the imagination . . .
The slave-breeders and slave-traders, are a small, odious and detested class, among you; and yet in politics, they dictate the course of all of you, and are as completely your masters, as you are the master of your own negroes.
We must have no carelessness in our dealings with public property or the expenditure of public money. Such a condition is characteristic either of an undeveloped people, or of a decadent civilization. America is neither.
Your belief in God is merely an escape from your monotonous, stupid and cruel life.
We keep passing unseen through little moments of other people's lives.
We have been educated into believing someone else's concept of the deity, and someone else's standard of beauty. You have the right to practice any religion and politics in a way that best suits your freedom, your dignity, and your understanding. And once you do that, you don't apologize.
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