To preserve the human race, it is now necessary to reorganize society. To this end, an Authority must be created with the power to control human population, to redistribute food, to purify air, water, soil, to re-pattern the cities.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the need for a radical restructuring of society to ensure the survival of humanity.
Gore Vidal's quote highlights the urgent necessity for a new authoritative system aimed at addressing critical issues facing humanity, such as population control, environmental restoration, and urban planning. It suggests that to safeguard the future of the human race, society must undergo significant changes that will allow for the equitable distribution of resources and a more sustainable way of living.
In practice
During a panel discussion on climate change, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of societal transformation.
We must declare ourselves, become known; allow the world to discover this subterranean life of ours which connects kings and farm boys, artists and clerks. Let them see that the important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
American writers want to be not good but great; and so are neither.
Writing fiction has become a priestly business in countries that have lost their faith.
The important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
For the average American, freedom of speech is simply the freedom to repeat what everyone else is saying and no more.
Ayn Rand's 'philosophy' is nearly perfect in its immorality, which makes the size of her audience all the more ominous and symptomatic as we enter a curious new phase in our society.... To justify and extol human greed and egotism is to my mind not only immoral, but evil.
To exist is to adapt, and if one could not adapt, one died and made room for those who could.
Unlucky people are stuck in routines. When they see something new, they want no part of it. Lucky people always want something new. They're prepared to take risks and relaxed enough to see the opportunities in the first place.
I think that when you emigrate, when everything you took for granted disappears, it's a kind of loss of innocence. When you're a kid, the world as you know it is just there. Suddenly, you emigrate and that's no longer the case. It's a break in reality that parachutes you into adulthood.
We are continuously living a new life, and when the old and the new do not fit nicely together, the old - no longer able to contain the new - should be discarded.
There are three ways to correct our faults:We can change through behavior We can change through understanding We can change heart
We have a structural problem because you can simultaneously understand the medium to long-term risks of climate change and also come to the conclusion that it is in your short-term economic interest to invest in oil and gas. Which is why, you know, anybody who tells you that the market is going to fix this on its own is lying to you.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.