Racism? But isn't it only a form of misanthropy?
Interpretation
Racism can be seen as a deeper issue of hatred towards humanity itself.
In this quote, Joseph Brodsky suggests that racism is not just a prejudice against a particular race but reflects a broader disdain for humanity. By framing racism as a form of misanthropy, he prompts us to consider the implications of hatred based on race and encourages a more profound reflection on our attitudes towards others.
In practice
During a speech about social justice, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of understanding the roots of racism.
Basically, it's hard for me to assess myself, a hardship not only prompted by the immodesty of the enterprise, but because one is not capable of assessing himself, let alone his work. However, if I were to summarize, my main interest is the nature of time. That's what interests me most of all. What time can do to a man.
One always pulls the trigger out of self-interest and quotes history to avoid responsibility or pangs of conscience.
On the whole, infinity is a fairly palpable aspect of this business of publishing, if only because it extends a dead author's existence beyond the limits he envisioned, or provides a living author with a future he cannot measure. In other words, this business deals with the future which we all prefer to regard as unending.
The invention of ethical and political doctrines, which blossomed into our own social sciences, is a product of times when things appeared manageable. The same goes for the criticism of those doctrines, though as a voice from the past, this criticism proved prophetic.
Try not to pay attention to those who will try to make life miserable for you. There will be a lot of those - in the official capacity as well as the self-appointed.
To put it in plain language, Russia is that country where the name of a writer appears not on the cover of his book, but on the door of his prison cell.
Sexual intercourse is kicking death in the ass while singing.
The Way is eternal. Until your last day, you are free from peril.
Man only plays when in the full meaning of the word he is a man, and he is only completely a man when he plays.
What I propose, therefore, is very simple: it is nothing more than to think what we are doing
It's not differences that divide us. It's our judgments about each other that do.
But suppose God is black? What if we go to Heaven and we, all our lives, have treated the Negro as an inferior, and God is there, and we look up and He is not white? What then is our response?
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