History is how we have learnt to think about ourselves. It's not as though the Greeks and Romans are static entities out there to be discovered and translated. We make them speak, we talk to them, and they inform what we say.
Mary BeardRead
People who exploit others come to spend an enormous amount of energy wondering about and justifying that exploitation.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Exploiting others drains one's energy and requires constant justification.
This quote highlights the idea that those who engage in exploitation are often trapped in a cycle of self-justification, which consumes a significant amount of their mental and emotional energy. Instead of engaging in productive or fulfilling activities, they become preoccupied with maintaining their exploitative behaviors and rationalizing their actions, which ultimately reflects a deeper moral and ethical neglect.
Themes
ExploitationEnergyJustificationEthicsMorality
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on workplace dynamics, this quote can serve as a reminder about the ethical implications of exploiting colleagues.
More from Mary Beard
All quotes βI don't think that we are completely dominated by what we have inherited from the past, but it is the case that as far back as you can go - just to Homer, but also to the literature of Rome, the literature of the Middle Ages and Renaissance - what you will find is that women's voices are not taken seriously.
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What politicians do is they never get the rhetoric wrong, and the price they pay is they don't speak the truth as they see it. Now, I will speak truth as I see it, and sometimes I don't get the rhetoric right. I think that's a fair trade-off.
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I'd quite like to be in Caligula's court - living in the back room somewhere and just being able to observe.
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Whatever you say about popular culture, people like people who know things, who are experts, and it doesn't particularly matter what they look like.
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There is no way, absolutely no way, that I would want people to stop reading the 'Odyssey.' But I want them to read it with their eyes open. To notice it and then to think what it says about us.
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