With the supermarket as our temple and the singing commercial as our litany, are we likely to fire the world with an irresistible vision of America's exalted purpose and inspiring way of life?
Adlai Stevenson IiRead
A free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.
Interpretation
A truly free society allows individuals the freedom to express unpopular opinions without fear of retribution.
This quote by Adlai Stevenson II underscores the importance of freedom of expression in a democratic society. It suggests that the hallmark of a truly free society is not just the ability to agree with popular opinions, but the safety and security to hold and express views that may be contrary to the majority. This reflects the essence of tolerance and respect for diverse thoughts, which are vital for a vibrant democracy.
In practice
This quote could be used in a discussion about the importance of civil liberties during a political rally.
The color of his pallor, however, was a curiously basic white - unmixed, that is, with the greens and yellows of guilt or abject contrition. It was very like the standard bloodlessness in the face of a small boy who loves animals to distraction, all animals, and who has just seen his favourite, bunny-loving sister's expression as she opened the box containing his birthday present to her - a freshly caught young cobra, with a red ribbon tied in an awkward bow around its neck.
Imagination is a danger thus every totalitarian regime is frightened of the artist. It is the vocation of the prophet to keep alive the ministry of imagination to keep on conjouring and proposing alternative futures to the single one the king wants to urge as the only thinkable one.
The potential beauty of human life is constantly made ugly by man's ever-recurring song of retaliation.
No advocate of reason can claim the right to force his ideas on others. No advocate of the free mind can claim the right to force the minds of others. No rational society, no co-operation, no agreement, no understanding, no discussion are possible among men who propose to substitute guns for rational persuasion.
Seeking God? We have totally revised corporate worship services to be sensitive to "seekers." If worship were to be tailored for seekers, it would be directed exclusively to believers, for no one except believers ever seeks God (Rom. 3:9-12).
The world rarely shrieks its meaning at you. It whispers, in private languages and obscure modalities, in arcane and quixotic imagery, through symbol systems in which every element has multiple meanings determined by juxtaposition.
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