There's a kind of optimism specifically within Christianity about the world - about whose side God is on. Well, I didn't have any of that in my background. I had physicality and chaos.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesRead
I get really, really concerned when I see somebody, taking $600,000 in speaking fees from Goldman Sachs, will not release what they're actually saying. That's concerning.
Interpretation
Coates expresses concern over transparency and accountability when high fees are involved in public speaking.
The quote highlights the troubling nature of financial influence in public discourse, particularly when individuals are compensated significantly for their speeches without disclosing the content of what they communicate. It suggests a lack of trust and the potential for conflicts of interest when financial gain takes precedence over honesty and openness in dialogue.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about political campaigns and the influence of money on candidates.
There's a kind of optimism specifically within Christianity about the world - about whose side God is on. Well, I didn't have any of that in my background. I had physicality and chaos.
We've got in the habit of not really understanding how freedom was in the 19th century, the idea of government of the people in the 19th century. America commits itself to that in theory.
I never expected my writing to become as popular as it did.
It's hard for me to view Baltimore outside the context of what Baltimore has always been in my mind: a violent place.
If I could have anything - you know, and this is across the board for any presidential candidate - I would have a greater acknowledgment of history in our policy and in our affairs.
You can't make a direct comparison between middle-class African Americans and middle-class white Americans, affluent African Americans and affluent white Americans. The amount of wealth tends to be less.
To be a member of the Communist Party is to have a taste of the police state. It is a diluted taste but it is bitter and unforgettable.
Unless women are prepared to fight politically they must be content to be ignored politically.
Democracy is not just voting every 5 years and watching 'Big Brother' in between and wondering why nothing happens. Democracy is what we do and say where we live and work
I may find Saddam Hussein's regime abhorrent - any normal person would - but the survival of it is in his hands.
With few exceptions, democracy has not brought good government to new developing countries. What Asians value may not necessarily be what Americans or Europeans value. Westerners value the freedoms and liberties of the individual. As an Asian of Chinese cultural backround, my values are for a government which is honest, effective and efficient.
If you had to work in the environment of Washington, D.C., as I do, and watch those men who are so imprisoned and so confined by their eighteenth-century thought patterns, you would know that if anybody is going to be liberated, it's men who must be liberated in this country.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.