WIST Quotations

Bradbury, Ray -- “The Fantasy Makers: A Conversation with Ray Bradbury and Chuck Jones,” Interview by Mary Harrington Hall, Psychology Today (Apr 1968)

Dave — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 18:52:37 +0000

All through history in every culture we’ve had to make up mythology to explain death to ourselves and to explain life to ourselves.

Ray Bradbury (1920-2012) American writer, futurist, fabulist
“The Fantasy Makers: A Conversation with Ray Bradbury and Chuck Jones,” Interview by Mary Harrington Hall, Psychology Today (Apr 1968)
(Source)

Stanley, Jason -- How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them, ch. 4 (2018)

Dave — Thu, 18 Nov 2021 15:15:36 +0000

For the fascist, schools and universities are there to indoctrinate national or racial pride, conveying for example (where nationalism is racialized) the glorious achievements of the dominant race.

Jason Stanley (b. 1969) American philosopher, epistemologist, academic
How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them, ch. 4 (2018)
(Source)

Orwell, George -- Essay (1946-01), “The Prevention of Literature,” Polemic Magazine

Dave — Wed, 28 Oct 2020 17:19:21 +0000

From the totalitarian point of view history is something to be created rather than learned. A totalitarian state is in effect a theocracy, and its ruling caste, in order to keep its position, has to be thought of as infallible. But since, in practice, no one is infallible, it is frequently necessary to rearrange past events in order to show that this or that mistake was not made, or that this or that imaginary triumph actually happened. Then again, every major change in policy demands a corresponding change of doctrine and a revelation of prominent historical figures.
This kind of thing happens everywhere, but is clearly likelier to lead to outright falsification in societies where only one opinion is permissible at any given moment. Totalitarianism demands, in fact, the continuous alteration of the past, and in the long run probably demands a disbelief in the very existence of objective truth.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1946-01), “The Prevention of Literature,” Polemic Magazine
(Source)

Kempton, Murray -- Part of Our Time: Some Ruins & Monuments of the Thirties, ch. 3 (1955)

Dave — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 20:09:11 +0000

A revolution requires of its leaders a record of unbroken infallibility; if they do not possess it, they are expected to invent it.

Murray Kempton (1917-1997) American journalist.
Part of Our Time: Some Ruins & Monuments of the Thirties, ch. 3 (1955)
(Source)

McMurtry, Larry -- Oh What a Slaughter: Massacres in the American West: 1846–1890 (2005)

Dave — Tue, 01 Jan 2019 20:37:11 +0000

Americans’ lack of passion for history is well known. History may not quite be bunk, as Henry Ford suggested, but there’s no denying that, as a people, we sustain a passionate concentration on the present and the future. Backward is just not a natural direction for Americans to look — historical ignorance remains a national characteristic.

Larry McMurtry (b. 1936) American novelist, essayist, bookseller, screenwriter
Oh What a Slaughter: Massacres in the American West: 1846–1890 (2005)
(Source)

Mencken, H. L. -- “On Being an American” (1), Prejudices: Third Series (1922)

Dave — Fri, 23 Oct 2015 12:58:32 +0000

The chief business of the nation, as a nation, is the setting up of heroes, mainly bogus.

H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) American writer and journalist [Henry Lewis Mencken]
“On Being an American” (1), Prejudices: Third Series (1922)

Butler, Samuel -- Further Extracts from the Note-Books of Samuel Butler, ch. 1 (1934)

Dave — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 17:17:11 +0000

An honest God’s the noblest work of man.

Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
Further Extracts from the Note-Books of Samuel Butler, ch. 1 (1934)

See Pope.