Love consists in leaving the loved one space to be themselves while providing the security within which that self may flourish.
Tony JudtRead
I went to live on a kibbutz, and I'd idealized the world of collective, agrarian work, where everyone was equal, everyone contributed, that all this awful European intellectual stuff just fell away.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects a desire for equality and simplicity in a communal life, contrasting it with complex intellectual ideas.
In this quote, Tony Judt expresses his aspirations and idealized views about living in a kibbutz, a collective community that promotes equality and shared work. He longs for a simpler existence, free from the burdens of European intellectualism, suggesting that true fulfillment may lie in collaboration and shared labor rather than in complex philosophies.
Themes
KibbutzEqualityCollectiveAgrarianIdealism
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about community living, I quoted Judt to illustrate the value of collective work.
More from Tony Judt
All quotes →If active or concerned citizens forfeit politics, they thereby abandon their society to its most mediocre and venal public servants
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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.
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Social democracy does not represent an ideal future; it does not even represent the ideal past.
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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.
Tony JudtRead
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.
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