A thousand influences constantly press a working man down into a passive role. He does not act; he is acted upon. He feels himself the slave of mysterious authority and has a firm conviction that “they” will never allow him to do this, that, and the other. Once when I was hop-picking I asked the sweated pickers (they earn something under sixpence an hour) why they did not form a union. I was told immediately that “they” would never allow it. Who were “they”? I asked. Nobody seemed to know, but evidently “they” were omnipotent. —George Orwell More about this quote Tags: power poverty powerlessness they Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
The rich are never threatened by the poor — they do not notice them. —Marie de France More about this quote Tags: poverty wealth class Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
In my experience, middle-class Americans do not feel at ease around poor people. Even people of high ideals who care about the needy experience discomfort in the presence of the needy themselves. —Rabbi Eliezer Finkelman More about this quote Tags: poverty class discomfort Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
There are very few people who are going to look into the mirror and say, “That person I see is a savage monster”; instead, they make up some construction that justifies what they do. If you ask the ceo of some major corporation what he does, he will say, in all honesty, that he is slaving twenty hours a day to provide his customers with the best goods or services he can and creating the best possible working conditions for his employees. But then you take a look at what the corporation does, the effect of its legal structure, the vast inequalities in pay and conditions, and you see the reality is something far different. —Noam Chomsky More about this quote Tags: politics power economics corporations Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
If I devote myself to other pursuits and contemplations, I must first see, at least, that I do not pursue them sitting upon another man’s shoulders. —Henry David Thoreau More about this quote Tags: oppression Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
Few tasks are more like the torture of Sisyphus than housework, with its endless repetition: the clean becomes soiled, the soiled is made clean, over and over, day after day. —Simone de Beauvoir More about this quote Tags: housework torture cleaning Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
When you go to work, if your name is on the building, you’re rich. If your name is on your desk, you’re middle-class. If your name is on your shirt, you’re poor. —Rich Hall More about this quote Tags: poverty economics work wealth class Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
The sun shines not on us but in us. The rivers flow not past but through us, thrilling, tingling, vibrating every fiber and cell of the substance of our bodies, making them glide and sing. —John Muir More about this quote Tags: joy nature body Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
I see my body as an instrument, rather than an ornament. —Alanis Morissette More about this quote Tags: body Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
We cannot imprison the mind in the brain. The mind is in every cell of our body and also extends into the whole universe. —Deepak Chopra More about this quote Tags: mind universe body Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
A trembling in the bones may carry a more convincing testimony than the dry, documented deductions of the brain. —Llewelyn Powys More about this quote Tags: body brain bones Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
Our bodies are apt to be our autobiographies. —Frank Gelett Burgess More about this quote Tags: body Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
What we think and feel and are is to a great extent determined by the state of our ductless glands and viscera. —Aldous Huxley More about this quote Tags: body feelings Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
Let him cry whoever feels like crying, for we were animals before we became reasoning beings, and the shedding of a tear, whether of forgiveness or of pity or of sheer delight at beauty, will do him a lot of good. —Lin Yutang More about this quote Tags: crying sadness tears Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email
There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophy. —Friedrich Nietzsche More about this quote Tags: wisdom philosophy body Permalink for this quote facebook twitter tumblr email