What does education do, what does it have to offer, when deprived of its necessary partner, the future, and face instead with - no future at all?
Graham SwiftRead
There’s this thing called progress. But it doesn’t progress. It doesn’t go anywhere. Because as progress progresses the world can slip away. It’s progress if you can stop the world slipping away. My humble model for progress I the reclamation of land. Which is repeatedly, never-ending retrieving what it lost. A dogged and vigilant business. A dull yet valuable business. A hard, inglorious business. But you shouldn’t go mistaking the reclamation of land for the building of empires.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Progress can often feel like a cycle of reclaiming what has been lost rather than building something new.
The quote by Graham Swift reflects on the concept of progress, suggesting that true progress involves the reclamation of what has been lost rather than the creation of grand structures or empires. Swift emphasizes the importance of vigilance and dedication in this process, portraying it as a humble yet essential task. The idea is that while society often celebrates the notion of progress, it is crucial to recognize the underlying challenges of maintaining balance and preserving what is valuable in the face of ongoing change.
Themes
ProgressReclamationChangeDedicationVigilanceLoss
In practice
Example use cases
During a community meeting focused on sustainability, this quote could be used to emphasize the importance of reclaiming local ecosystems.
More from Graham Swift
All quotes →Realism; fatalism; phlegm. To live in the Fens is to receive strong doses of reality. The great flat monotony of reality; the wide empty space of reality. Melancholia and self-murder are not unknown in the Fens. Heavy drinking, madness and sudden acts of violence are not uncommon. How do you surmount reality, children? How do you acquire, in a flat country, the tonic of elevated feelings?
Graham SwiftRead
Ah, children, pity level-crossing keepers, pity lock-keepers - pity lighthouse-keepers - pity all the keepers of this world (pity even school teachers), caught between their conscience and the bleak horizon.
Graham SwiftRead
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