Talking Heads

The clerks, the kings, the thinkers; they talked and with their talking ran the world. The truck drivers, the pyramid builders, the straight duty men; the ones who could not talk; they built the world out of their very tongueless-so the talkers could talk about how to run it and the ones that built it. And when they had destroyed it with their talking, the truckdrivers and the straight duty men would build it up again; simply because they were hunting for some way to speak.

-James Jones

From Here to Eternity

Posted via email from Pier 51

Tyranny

The effects of tyranny, my dearest one, are to be seen not so much in executions, privations, surveillances, matricide and fratricide, ruined reputations, unjust trials, exile, and murder, shocking events of the capital; no, tyranny has finally achieved its foul purpose when among the many, scattered at large, there are acquiescence, apathy, complacency, bland acceptance of outrage, pride in vulgar triumphs, blurring of the meaning of words, confusion in moral standards-in short, a blight of the communal character. It is when people who are thought of as good solid citizens, those who make up the backbone of the populace, become touched by this blight and do not realize it, become not only the infected but the infectors-this is when tyranny has won the day.

-John Hersey

The Conspiracy

Posted via email from Pier 51

You Are A Lover of Words

People turn to you because you give voice to dreams, notice little things, and make otherwise impossible things appear real. You are a rare bird who thinks the world is beautiful enough to try to figure it out, who has the courage to dive into your wild mind and swim there. You are someone who still believes in cloud watching, people watching, daydreaming, tomorrow, favorite colors, silver clouds, dandelions, and sorrow. Be sacred. Be cool. Be wild. Go far. Words do more than plant miracle seeds. With you writing them, they can change the world.

-Ashley Rice

Posted via email from Pier 51