There are other ways of finding satisfaction, recipes for human happiness, enjoyment, dignified and meaningful, gratifying life, than increased consumption that increases production.
Zygmunt BaumanRead
We belong to talking, not what talking is about... Stop talking - and you are out. Silence equals exclusion.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of communication in human relationships and the negative consequences of silence.
Zygmunt Bauman highlights the intrinsic human need for conversation, suggesting that talking is fundamental to our belonging in society. He warns that remaining silent can lead to feelings of exclusion, as engagement in dialogue is vital for maintaining connections with others and conveying our identities.
In practice
During a team meeting to emphasize the importance of participation, I might say this quote to encourage everyone to contribute.
There are other ways of finding satisfaction, recipes for human happiness, enjoyment, dignified and meaningful, gratifying life, than increased consumption that increases production.
Civilisation, the orderly world in which we live, is frail. We are skating on thin ice. There is a fear of a collective disaster. Terrorism, genocide, flu, tsunamis.
In a liquid modern life there are no permanent bonds, and any that we take up for a time must be tied loosely so that they can be untied again, as quickly and as effortlessly as possible, when circumstances change - as they surely will in our liquid modern society, over and over again.
The carrying power of a bridge is not the average strength of the pillars, but the strength of the weakest pillar. I have always believed that you do not measure the health of a society by GNP but by the condition of its worst off.
As far as love is concerned, possession, power, fusion and disenchantment are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
We live in a world of communication - everyone gets information about everyone else. There is universal comparison and you don't just compare yourself with the people next door, you compare yourself to people all over the world and with what is being presented as the decent, proper and dignified life. It's the crime of humiliation.
I used to analyze myself down to the last thread, used to compare myself with others, recalled all the smallest glances, smiles and words of those to whom Iβd tried to be frank, interpreted everything in a bad light, laughed viciously at my attempts βto be like the restβ βand suddenly, in the midst of my laughing, Iβd give way to sadness, fall into ludicrous despondency and once again start the whole process all over again β in short, I went round and round like a squirrel on a wheel.
It's true that most American citizens think of themselves as living in a democratic country. But when was the last time that any Americans actually sat down and came to a collective decision? Maybe if they are ordering pizzas, but basically never.
Well, as everyone knows, once witchcraft gets started, there's no stopping it.
It is hardly plausible to view a whole succession of logics as an evolutionary and functional program of innate wiring, particularly in light of the fact that the most mature logical structures are reached only by some adults.
Don't wait for the last judgment - it takes place every day.
What a tragedy is help where it harms what it supports!
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