Magazine Posts

“If you assume that there is no hope, you guarantee that there will be no hope. If you assume there is an instinct for freedom, that there are opportunities to change things, then there is a possibility that you can contribute to make a better world

Avram Noam Chomsky, born in 1928 is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. He is a laureate professor of linguistics at the University of Arizona and an institute professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Chomsky has written more than 150 books on topics such as linguistics, war, and politics. In addition to his work in linguistics, since the 1960s. More Chomsky has been an influential voice on the American left as a consistent critic of U.S. foreign policy, contemporary capitalism, and corporate influence on political institutions and the media. More

Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 - 1860) was a German philosopher often called the “philosopher of pessimism". He is known for his 1818 work "The World as Will and Representation" (expanded in 1844), Schopenhauer was among the first philosophers in the Western tradition to share and affirm significant tenets of Indian philosophy, such as asceticism, denial of the self, and the notion of the world-as-appearance. His writings influenced later existential philosophy and Freudian psychology.

Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874 –1936) was an English writer,[philosopher, Christian apologist, and literary and art critic. He has been referred to as the "prince of paradox" Chesterton created the fictional priest-detective Father Brown,] and wrote on apologetics. Even some of those who disagree with him have recognized the wide appeal of such works as Orthodoxy and The Everlasting Man. Chesterton routinely referred to himself as an "orthodox" Christian, and eventually converted to Roman Catholicism from high church Anglicanism.

Immanuel Kant - born Emanuel Kant (1724 – 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aesthetics . He is called by many, the "father of modern philosophy. His best known work is the Critique of Pure Reason, is often cited as the most significant writings of metaphysics and epistemology in modern philosophy More

Turkish Proverb. Also known in other variants.

Eric Arthur Blair (1903 – 1950) Known for his work under the pen name of George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, poet, and critic. His work is characterized by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to all totalitarianism (both authoritarian communism and fascism), and support of democratic socialism. Among his best known works are "Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. More

"As nightfall does not come all at once, neither does oppression. In both Instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air - however slight - lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness"

William Orville Douglas (1898 – 1980) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States for 36 years from 1939 to 1975. Douglas was known for his strong progressive and civil libertarian views and as a strong defender of the First Amendment. Born in Maine, Minnesota, Douglas moved west with his family to California and then to Yakima, Washington after the death of his father. He chaired  the Securities and Exchange Commission before being appointed to the Supreme Court by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He is the longest-serving justice in history to date.

Quote source: The Douglas letters: Selections from the private papers of Justice William O. Douglas by William O. Douglas

Emanuel James Rohn (1930 – 2009), Professionally known as Jim Rohn, was an American entrepreneur, author, and motivational speaker. He wrote numerous books including "How to obtain wealth and happiness". He was born in Yakima, Washington and grew up in Caldwell, Idaho, where his parents own and worked a farm. Rohn became a millionaire at age 30, and went broke when he was 33. He later became a millionaire again. Jim Rohn shared his message with more than 5 million people and 6,000 audiences all over the world. He received numerous industry awards including the National Speakers Association CPAE Award and the Master of Influence Award. More

James Arthur Baldwin (1924 –1987) was an American writer, orator and activist. As a writer, he garnered acclaim across various mediums, including essays, novels, plays, and poems. His first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, was published in 1953; decades later, Time magazine included the novel on its list of the 100 best English-language novels released from 1923 to 2005. His first essay collection, Notes of a Native Son, was published in 1955. Baldwin was also a well-known, and controversial, public figure, especially during the civil rights movement in the United States.

“I have a foreboding of an America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time – when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness" (1955)

Carl Edward Sagan (1934 – 1996) ~ American astronomer, planetary scientist and science communicator. He was one of the most well-known scientist of the 1970's and 1980's . He was controversial in scientific, political, and religious circles for his views on extraterrestrial intelligence, nuclear weapons, and religion. His best known scientific contribution is his research on the possibility of extraterrestrial life. He was an advocate for nuclear disarmament and co-wrote and hosted 'Cosmos: A Personal Voyage.'  He was widely regarded as a freethinker and one of his most famous quotations, in Cosmos, was, "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.  He died at the age of 62 from complications of Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS). More
 
Note: The book Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan explains why scientific thinking is crucial for navigating today's complex world and it offers insights on how we can separate fact from fiction and think critically, empowering us to make informed decisions. 

Albert Camus ~ (1913 – 1960) French philosopher, author, dramatist and journalist. He was the recipient of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44.  His works include The Stranger, The Plague, The Myth of Sisyphus, The Fall and The Rebel.

Maya Angelou (1928-2014) American writer, poet, singer, and civil rights activist