Zadie Smith // " I think what interested me is when you ask yourself what makes a person innately conservative or innately liberal, it’s really interesting. It’s more than the political argument, it’s a personality trait, one way or another. I was just trying to think of the fundamental questions around which the poles revolve. What really is it? It seemed to me that one of the most fundamental answers to this question is whether people get what they deserve, whether all things come to people in the right order, and whether there’s an unfairness in the world. The different ways you feel about this very basic question stack up in a political way, one way or another. That’s what interested me."
Jeff Buckley // "I love anything that haunts me and never leaves."
Albert Einstein // "A human being is a part of the whole, called by us "Universe"... He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest — a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature... Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but striving for such achievement is, in itself, a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security."
Martin Luther King Jr. // "We may have all come on different ships, but we are in the same boat now."
Malcolm X // "Early in life I had learned that if you want something, you had better make some noise."
John Hurt // "Great men are forged in fire. It is the privilege of lesser men to light the flame."
Henry Rollins // "Be like the moon... The moon has been around a long time and has never tried to rip anyone off. The moon does not care who you want to touch or what color you are. The moon treats everyone the same... Be like the moon. When others insult or belittle in an attempt to elevate themselves, the moon sits passively and watches, never lowering itself to anything that weak. The moon is beautiful and bright... The moon never shoves clouds out of its way so it can be seen. The moon needs not fame or money to be powerful. The moon never asks you to go to war to defend it. Be like the moon."
Zaha Hadid // "You have to really believe not only in yourself; you have to believe that the world is actually worth your sacrifices."
Anthony Bourdain // If I'm an advocate for anything, it's to move. As far as you can, as much as you can. Across the ocean, or simply across the river. The extent to which you can walk in someone else's shoes or at least eat their food, it's a plus for everybody. Open your mind, get up off the couch, move."
Sir Ian McKellen // "If you want to understand human beings, what you have to understand is that we all act, we all play parts. Like…when you got up this morning you decided what you would wear – you decided not to put a suit on. But if you’d been going to an important reception you would have changed your costume... We are used to the idea of changing our clothes according to what we are doing. And we change our language. You might swear in one situation but never in another. You’re constantly presenting yourself in a way animals don’t do. A dog is always a dog. That’s why he’s so funny when you put him in different situations, he’s always himself. Human beings adapt."
Margaret Mead // "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
Gloria Steinem (& Dorothy Pitman Hughes) // "Don't think about making women fit the world...think about making the world fit women."
