“In the ideal state, the education of children will be the highest business of government.”
-Aristotle (via Annabel Lyon in The Golden Mean)
“I am not an optimist. I am a prisoner of hope.” – Archbishop Desmond Tutu, responding to a question from UN High Commissioner Mary Robinson on how he managed to maintain his positive outlook no matter how bleak the prospects.
“A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences, so they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions.”
– Steve Jobs, pinpointing one of the many factors that distinguished him from most of his colleagues
To produce is to survive; return to the countryside.
This directive came from the government of Viet Nam shortly after they won the war, encouraging their citizens to leave the cities and go back to farming… think about it.
The true luxury in life is to not set an alarm clock and to stay in pajamas as long as you like.
From this follows a complete renaissance of rural living.
In the distant future, the need for cities will disappear.
– Nicholas Negroponte, WIRED Magazine Dec. 1998
I have managed largely to achieve the conditions described in the first line, but I don’t have much confidence that the rest will come to pass anytime soon.