william green
“I always have a quote for everything. It saves me original thought.” This resourcefulness has proven to be wise, as political thinker Hannah Arendt agrees. Masu. In an age of broken traditions, a good quote not only saves effort but also rescues truths that might otherwise be lost. They are “thought fragments” at the bottom of the ocean, waiting for divers to discover them as the essential core of something beautiful.
In this Substack review and the several Substack reviews that follow, I act as a diver and aim to retrieve pearls of truth. Each quote invites thinking beyond its source and encourages broader reflection on what it evokes. Not as a moral pretext, but as an exploration of the ideas and emotions that good writing naturally elicits. Truth and beauty correspond to each other.
To address common complaints about quotes on social platforms, we’ve included easily searchable sources.
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“Nations often revitalize themselves in times of political crisis, rediscovering the spirit they have gradually lost in the relentless pursuit and maintenance of power.” – Friedrich Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits (2023), Section 465, “Resurrection of the Spirit.
> Nietzsche and Tocqueville are rarely related, but both warn against complacency in equality. Tocqueville distinguishes between a “manly and legitimate passion for equality” that drives upward mobility, and a “corrupt taste for equality” (what Nietzsche would later call “collective morality”) that drags others down. gay science (Tocqueville, american democracy,transformer. Mansfield and Winthrop, I/Part 2, Chapter 7, “Majority omnipotence and its effects in the United States”). -
“Plurality is a condition of human behavior, because we are all the same, human beings, and we will never be the same as everyone who has lived, is living, or will live. Because there are no people.” – Hannah Arendt. human condition (1958, 2019), I-1, 8.
> What does Arendt mean by plurality? Earth’s laws. Our differences are just as important as our similarities. Uniformity is meaningless without uniqueness. – review human condition, WH Auden said: “Her thoughts are a kind of poetry.” (1958) -
Pluralism is not relativism, and relativism is not merely arbitrary. Multiple values are objective, not arbitrary creations or subjective fantasies, but are embedded in what it means to be human. When fundamental values conflict, majority rule is a necessary expedient that creates problems down the road. Even respectful debate and fair voting cannot erase the pain of loss, which can only be alleviated if the “loser” feels heard and valued. Local example: Wealthy parents donating only to their children’s schools promotes freedom but creates inequality. Enforcing equal sharing ensures fairness but limits freedom. The most difficult choice is not between good and evil, but between good and good.
> Personal interpretation based on Isaiah Berlin. bent wood of humanity (1990), 73-92, 253-278. -
“Every choice is a renunciation. There is no difference between the act of choosing and the act of renunciation.”
A humorous satirical novel by Italo Calvino. A castle of intertwined destinies (1979), “The Waver Story”, 56.
> Calvino uses the idea of a fixed narrative. The more you cling to your interpretation, the less you will truly understand it. A fixed narrative can cause you to miss the story. Like a tarot deck shuffled by fate, meaning is fluid, and recognizing this diversity allows us to avoid “us vs. them” without erasing the uniqueness inherent in each card and each perspective. Transcend dichotomies. -
“What servant moralists call “weaknesses” are often precisely the points at which the forces of nature enter. Through what appear to be our weaknesses we can live; Through the little cracks and crevices in our strongholds, the great life force reaches us. ”
Havelock Ellis dance of life (2023), VI: “The Art of Morality.”
> Our staff moralists are always with us. As the saying goes, they are the ones who “see the speck of the sun and forget the glory of its light.” -
“Perhaps we all have a Garden of Eden, but we can hardly see it in front of a flaming sword. In life we have the choice to remember or forget. It takes strength to do either. It takes a hero to do both. Those who remember face the pain of lost innocence. Those who forget deny pain and hate innocence.
james baldwin Giovanni’s room (1956, abstract), 36.
> Innocence is lost in the very act of recognition. Forgetting the pain of loss evokes cynicism. True strength is being heroic and moving forward through the pain of loss. -
“The easiest thing to do is to take yourself seriously. It’s good writing.” times A leading article is much easier than a good joke punch. Solemnity is natural, but laughter is a leap forward. It’s easy to get heavier, but harder to get lighter. Satan fell down due to gravity. Angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly. ”
GK Chesterton, orthodox (2021), Chapter VII “Eternal Revolution”.
> Chesterton contrasts the heavy “downward resistance” of pride with the lightness of humility. Lightness and laughter require grace. Satan’s fall symbolizes the weight of pride, and humility allows for transcendence. -
“Spirits were once gods, then they became humans, and now they are becoming mobs.”
Friedrich Nietzsche, Zarathustra said: (Penguin Classics – 1969), “Of the Pale Criminal”, I/67.
> Nietzsche’s thought is not a discussion of atheism or nihilism, but a reaction to their inevitable consequences.: not celebration, but sadness, disorientation, and the need to reevaluate values and create life-affirming ways of living in the wake of the collapse of traditional authority. His philosophy, often conveyed through provocative aphorisms, resists systematic thinking, such as his famous remark, “The will to a system is the absence of integrity.”Twilight of idols“Proverbs and Arrows,” 26). -
“And he will destroy the covering that is cast over this mountain.” all people, the veil spread over them all countries. He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away the tears of men. all face. ” – Isaiah 25:7-8 (emphasis added)
> All? Are there any exceptions? It is a vision of universal salvation and hope that transcends personal preferences, whatever the turmoil of the times.
notes and reading
“Pearl Diving” – One of the most striking texts and images in Hannah Arendt’s work appears in her introduction. illumination (2019), she reflects on Walter Benjamin’s poetic and fragmentary thinking style. The German-Jewish philosopher, cultural critic, and media theorist—whom Arendt considered one of the most important thinkers of her time, and whose ideas deeply influenced her own work—is used in the pearl-diving metaphor. I will explain her through this, and I will also portray her as an extension of that. , her own approach to working with fragments of history and thought to reveal lasting insights hidden beneath the surface. This metaphor is further explained in her book men of the dark ages (1970), pp. 205-206.
Hannah Arendt’s poem What remains: Hannah Arendt’s collection of poems, Translation/editing Samantha Rose Hill and Genes Grill (December 10, 2024).
Happy new year! the sun is coming. George Harrison, The Beatles. One fan said, “The amount of serotonin this song gives me is immeasurable.”
Approximately 2 + 2 = 5: https://williamgreen.substack.com/about
Snitch #167 – “Please. That’s enough.”
Source: 2 + 2 = 5 – williamgreen.substack.com
