“Monolingualism produces a totalitarian vision of the world. This object is called a book and that’s it. Whereas the bilingual child, faced with one object with two names, will have to grapple with abstract and philosophical ideas early on in life.”
– Andreï Makine
“In excited times, a politician needs no power of reasoning, no apprehension of impersonal facts, and no shred of wisdom. What he must have is the capacity of persuading the multitude that what they passionately desire is attainable, and that he, through his ruthless determination, is the man to attain it.”
― Bertrand Russell, Power: A New Social Analysis (1938), Ch. III: The Forms of Power, p. 49
“Democracy requires, in fact, a rather difficult combination of individual initiative with submission to the majority. It requires that a man who has strong political convictions should argue for them and do what he can to make them the convictions of the majority, but that if the majority proves adverse, he should submit with a good grace.”
— Bertrand Russell, What Is Democracy? (1953)
“I retain the tastes and prejudices of an old-fashioned liberal. I like democracy. I like individual liberty, and I like culture. I do not like to see ignorant or despotic officials interfering needlessly with private lives; I do not like to see creative thought crushed by the tyranny of stupid majorities. I do not like persecution, whether by majorities or of minorities. I am suspicious of government and distrustful of politicians; but insofar as there must be government I prefer that it should be democratic.”
— Bertrand Russell, Citizenship in a Great State (1943)
“Michael and I were once the best of friends, but a lot of water has passed under that particular bridge, then the bridge has been dynamited by a corps of engineers and washed downriver into a vast ocean of frosty indifference.It is a long story.”
– Stephen Fry: The Hippopotamus
Nu er det ikke fordi jeg skal bruge Venstres egen politik imod dem, men rigsretssager er dyre og langsomme – og det er jo fordi der ikke er noget konkurrence!
Jeg foreslår at sende det i udbud. Lige få nogle private udbydere der er vant til afstraffelse til at byde ind. Jeg tænker EuroPark og Bandidos virker som oplagte bud.
– Michael Schøt, Tale fra Schøtministeriet 18.12.2020
På et dybere plan, siger Christina Johansen, handler det samtidig om, hvilke værdier man vil plante i seerne – i børnene. For nyheder er også et dannelsesprojekt. “Det er vigtigt at lære dem, at verden ikke bare består af folk, der er rygende uenige, og hvor intet fungerer. Meget ofte er konflikterne kunstigt oppustede af medierne. Vi skal vise, at man kan snakke om tingene på en ordentlig måde. Give lyst til at engagere sig i samfundet.
Hakon Mosbech: “Vi puster aldrig til dramaet.” Hvad børnenes nyheder kan lære de voksne. Zetland, 11.12.2020
“Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic.”
– Frank Herbert: Dune
“People’s opinions are mainly designed to make them feel comfortable; truth, for most people is a secondary consideration.”
— Bertrand Russell, The Art of Philosophizing and Other Essays (1942)
“Before mass leaders seize the power to fit reality to their lies, their propaganda is marked by its extreme contempt for facts as such, for in their opinion fact depends entirely on the power of man who can fabricate it.”
The Origins of Totalitarianism, Hannah Arendt