The individual's desire to dominate his environment is not a desirable trait in a society which every day grows more and more confining.
Interpretation
The desire for control can be harmful in a society that becomes increasingly restrictive.
Gore Vidal suggests that the ambition to exert dominance over one's surroundings may not be a positive attribute, especially in a society that is continuously becoming more restrictive and confined. This reflection implies that as societal structures evolve, a more cooperative and harmonious approach may be necessary rather than a push for individual dominance.
In practice
Using this quote as a discussion point in a philosophy class about individuality vs. society.
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.
Any conception of a god that is less than sovereign is an idol and no god at all.
She was desperate and she was choosey at the same time and, in a way, beautiful, but she didn't have quite enough going for her to become what she imagined herself to be.
Direct action against the authority in the shop, direct action against the authority of the law, direct action against the invasive, meddlesome authority of our moral code, is the logical, consistent method of Anarchism. Will it not lead to a revolution? Indeed, it will. No real social change has ever come without a revolution. People are either not familiar with their history, or they have not yet learned that revolution is but thought carried into action.
One important theme is the extent to which one can ever correct an error, especially outside any frame of religious forgiveness. All of us have done something we regret - how we manage to remove that from our conscience, or whether that's even possible, interested me.
he threw up his hands and wrote the Universe dont exist and died to prove it
I believe in mysticism, with an interior goal, _x000D_ and you are your own temple _x000D_ and your own priest.
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