They did not use swords, or keep slaves. They were not barbarians. I do not know the rules and laws of their society, but I suspect that they were singularly few. As they did without monarchy and slavery, so they also got on without the stock exchange, the advertisement, the secret police, and the bomb. Yet I repeat that these were not simple folk, not dulcet shepherds, noble savages, bland utopians. They were not less complex than us. The trouble is that we have a bad habit, encouraged by pedants and sophisticates, of considering happiness as something rather stupid. Only pain is intellectual, only evil interesting. This is the treason of the artist a refusal to admit the banality of evil and the terrible boredom of pain. If you can't lick 'em, join 'em. If it hurts, repeat it. But to praise despair is to condemn delight, to embrace violence is to lose hold of everything else. We have almost lost hold, we can no longer describe a happy man, nor make any celebration of joy. How can I tell you about the people of Omelas They were not naive and happy children - though their children were, in fact happy. They were mature, intelligent, passionate adults whose lives were not wretched.
More Quotes from Ursula K. LeGuin:
True myths may serve for thousands of years as an inexhaustible source of intellectual speculation, religious joy, ethical inquiry, and artistic renewal. The real mystery is not destroyed by reason. The fake one is. You look at it and it vanishes. You look at the Blonde Hero really look and he turns into a gerbil. But you look at Apollo, and he looks back at you. The poet Rilke looked at a statue of Apollo about fifty years ago, and Apollo spoke to him. 'You must change your life,' he said. When the true myth rises into consciousness, that is always its message. You must change your life.Ursula K. LeGuin
As great scientists have said and as all children know, it is above all by the imagination that we achieve perception, and compassion, and hope.
Ursula K. LeGuin
What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy?
Ursula K. LeGuin
It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end.
Ursula K. LeGuin
The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty: not knowing what comes next.
Ursula K. LeGuin
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Based on Topics: Art Quotes, Facts Quotes, Good & Evil Quotes, Habit Quotes, Happiness Quotes, Joy & Excitement Quotes, Man Quotes, Pain Quotes, People Quotes, Rebellion Quotes, Secrets Quotes, Slavery Quotes, Society & Civilization Quotes, Stupidity Quotes, Violence QuotesBased on Keywords: banality, dulcet, monarchy, pedants, singularly, sophisticates, utopians
Slavery is no more sinful, by the Christian code, than it is sinful to wear a whole coat, while another is in tatters, to eat a better meal than a neighbor, or otherwise to enjoy ease and plenty, while our fellow creatures are suffering and in want.
James F. Cooper
If you don't meet the standards, then you don't qualify.
Harold Ford
Reagan was all about America, and you talked about it. Obama is, 'We are above that now. We're not just parochial, we're not just chauvinistic, we're not just provincial. We stand for something.' I mean, in a way, Obama's standing above the country, above - above the world. He's sort of God. He's going to bring all different sides together.
Chris Matthews