- On ethics: “To be a good human being is to have a kind of openness to the world, an ability to trust uncertain things beyond your own control, that can lead you to be shattered in very extreme circumstances for which you were not to blame. That says something very important about the condition of the ethical life: that it is based on a trust in the uncertain and on a willingness to be exposed; it’s based on being more like a plant than like a jewel, something rather fragile, but whose very particular beauty is inseparable from that fragility.” (From The Fragility of Goodness: Luck and Ethics in Greek Tragedy and Philosophy)
- On inner life: “Read a lot of stories, listen to a lot of music, and think about what the stories you encounter mean for your own life and lives of those you love. In that way, you will not be alone with an empty self; you will have a newly rich life with yourself, and enhanced possibilities of real communication with others.” (From Take My Advice: Letters to the Next Generation from People Who Know a Thing or Two)
- On citizenship: “Thirsty for national profit, nations, and their systems of education, are heedlessly discarding skills that are needed to keep democracies alive. If this trend continues, nations all over the world will soon be producing generations of useful machines, rather than complete citizens who can think for themselves, criticize tradition, and understand the significance of another person’s sufferings and achievements. The future of the world’s democracies hangs in the balance.” (From Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities)
- On sexism and racism: “I think the reason LGBTQ people have made such rapid progress is that treating them with equal respect does not require straight people to change their lives. Treating women equally does require men to change, for example by sharing domestic labor and child and elder care. And treating racial minorities equally requires privileged elites to give up many privileges to create a society with less poverty and lack of opportunity.” (From an interview with Sources)
- On anger: “Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most profound philosophers about anger, and what he thought is that you need to focus on the dignity of the people who suffered, and the dignity of their complaint and their outrage, but the retributive part is not part of that. He said their anger has to be ‘purified’ and ‘channelized,’ he used those two words — meaning, we keep the outrage and we keep the courage, but the retributive part about causing a lot of pain isn’t very helpful. You have to turn to the future and think which emotions will actually help us solve the problem. I think that’s the test.” (From a Time magazine interview)
Transformational Coach. Visual Artist. Educator. Poet. Elder passionate about social justice, equality, learning, and supporting the arts. Gatherer. Big fan of wonder walks and open spaces where everyone has a place.
2 年You never disappoint, Mark Swartz. Allison Giddens, Joanne Church, Sabella Sparano, Jena Schwartz excellent book suggestions herein.