The tapestry of history has no point at which you can cut it and leave the design intelligible.

The tapestry of history has no point at which you can cut it and leave the design intelligible.

The instinct of nearly all societies is to lock up anybody who is
truly free. First, society begins by read more

The instinct of nearly all societies is to lock up anybody who is
truly free. First, society begins by trying to beat you up. If
this fails, they try to poison you. If this fails too, the
finish by loading honors on your head.

The avowed aim of all utopian movements is to put an end to history and to establish a final and read more

The avowed aim of all utopian movements is to put an end to history and to establish a final and permanent calm.

Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.

Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.

Organizational progress parallels that in science and technology, permitting ultimate simplicity through intermediate complexity.

Organizational progress parallels that in science and technology, permitting ultimate simplicity through intermediate complexity.

In a consumer society there are inevitably two kinds of slaves:
the prisoners of addiction and the prisoners of read more

In a consumer society there are inevitably two kinds of slaves:
the prisoners of addiction and the prisoners of envy.

Cultures contain many cues and inducements to dissuade the individual from approaching ultimate limits, in much the same way that read more

Cultures contain many cues and inducements to dissuade the individual from approaching ultimate limits, in much the same way that a special warning strip of land around the edge of a baseball field lets a player know that he is about to run into a concrete wall when he is preoccupied with catching the ball. The wider that strip of land and the more sensitive the player is to the changing composition of the ground under his feet as he pursues the ball, the more effective the warning. Romanticizing or lionizing as "individualistic" those people who disregard social cues and inducements increases the danger of head-on collisions with inherent social limits. Decrying various forms of social disapproval is in effect narrowing the warning strip.

History is on every occasion the record of that which one age finds worthy of note in another.

History is on every occasion the record of that which one age finds worthy of note in another.

Society knows perfectly well how to kill a man and has methods more subtle than death

Society knows perfectly well how to kill a man and has methods more subtle than death