Love consists in leaving the loved one space to be themselves while providing the security within which that self may flourish.
Tony JudtRead
We are not merely historians but also and always citizens.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the dual role of individuals as both historians and active participants in society.
Tony Judt's quote suggests that individuals should not only document and analyze history, but also engage with the present societal issues. It highlights the responsibility of citizens to understand their past while actively contributing to the shaping of their communities and futures.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about the importance of civic engagement in democratic societies.
Love consists in leaving the loved one space to be themselves while providing the security within which that self may flourish.
If active or concerned citizens forfeit politics, they thereby abandon their society to its most mediocre and venal public servants
Obviously a primary liberal conviction is that we should be tolerant of other peoples' convictions. But if we believe in something, we had better find ways to say so convincingly.
Social democracy does not represent an ideal future; it does not even represent the ideal past.
What I am against is false optimism: the notion either that things have to go well, or else that they tend to, or else that the default condition of historical trajectories is characteristically beneficial in the long-run.
I'm not sure I've learned anything new about life; but I've had to think harder about death and what comes after for other people.
Since our inner experiences consist of reproductions, and combinations of sensory impressions, the concept of a soul without a body seem to me to be empty and devoid of meaning.
Masses are rude, lame, unmade, pernicious in their demands and influence, and need not to be flattered, but to be schooled. I wish not to concede anything to them, but to tame, drill, divide, and break them up, and draw individuals out of them.
When you have worn out your shoes, the strength of the show fiber has passed into your body.
The hour calls for moral grandeur and spiritual audacity.
The public good is in nothing more essentially interested, than in the protection of every individual's private rights.
Is it true, O Christ in heaven, that the highest suffer the most? That the strongest wander furthest and most hopelessly are lost? That the mark of rank in nature is capacity for pain? That the anguish of the singer makes the sweetness of the strain?
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