paraphrase Flashcards
Mr. Houghton was given to high minded-monologues about good life, sexless and full of duty. Yet in the middle of these monologues, if a girl passed the window, his neck would turn on itself and he would watch her out of sight. In this instance, he seemed to me ruled not by thought but by an invisible and irresistible spring in his neck.
Mr. Houghton was habitually inclined to give highly moral speeches about clean, sexless and dutiful life. But if a girl passed the window during these speeches, he would involuntarily turn his neck and watch her until she’s gone. His action told me that he was not ruled by thought, instead, he would feel a strong urge to turn his head and look at girls.
A crowd of grade-three thinkers, all shouting the same thing, all warming their hands at the fire of their own prejudices, will not thanks you for pointing out the contradictions in their beliefs
A crowd of grade-three thinkers who share the same prejudices are feeling very content and happy. They will not feel grateful for your revealing their inconsistency in their religious faiths.
I slid my arm around her waist and murmured that if we were counting the heads, the Buddhists were the boys for my money.
I slid my arm around her waist and whispered that if we were talking about the number of people who believed in a certain religion, I believed the Buddhists were the greatest in number.
If we had grown up in a community where polygamy or head-hunting, or infanticide, or gladiatorial fighting, or dueling, was regarded as the normal and natural thing-then we should have grown up to regard it as “obviously” natural and perfectly proper.
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If we had grown up in a community where these practices that are considered immoral, improper and abnormal in modern times are wildly accepted, then we clearly would see these as completely normal.
Many of our beliefs-many of our most deeply rooted and fundamental convictions-are held simply as a result of the fact that we happen to have been “brought up” to them.
Many of our deep-rooted and basic beliefs are determined by our social or cultural traditions.
Antagonism to a man usually produces some antagonism to his opinions; and the bitterness felt against the man usually spreads to the idea which he stands.
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When we dislike a man, we often tend to dislike his views as well. And our resentment towards them often lead us to oppose to the ideas that he supports.
Yet when full allowance has been made for all these non-rational factors in the determination of opinion, there remains-not in all minds, not in most minds, but in some-a desire to discover the facts, to think things out in a clear and rational way; to get at the truth at all costs, whatever it may turn out to be!
Yet in spite of all these factors are taken into consideration, which make it difficult for people to form their opinions rationally, there are still some people, not all people, not most people, who wish to reveal the facts, to consider things carefully in a clear and rational way, to find out truth at all costs, whatever it may prove to be!
Of course, anybody who knows anything about New York knows the city’s essential platitude-that you don’t wander around the central park at night-and in that, needless to say, was the appeal: it was the thing you don’t do.
Of course, everybody who knows New Yorks knows the widely discussed topic here, that is, you should not wander in Central Park at night because it is very dangerous. However, precisely because of the risk, there are always people attracted to do so. They just wish to do what people normally don’t do.
The park is now framed, enveloped even, by the city, but there was no escaping the recognition that this city-contrived, man-made, glaringly obtrusive, consuming wasteful and staggering quantities of electricity and water and energy-was very beautiful.
The park, which is supposed to remain unaffected by any influence of the city life, is now surrounded, and even overwhelmed completely by the features of the city. But there was no denying the fact that the city was very beautiful, although it was artificial and noticeable in an intrusive way, and used up a great amount of water and energy.
We, too, are trapped in the same sort of false illusion that stymied critical thought before his radical breakthrough, except that the myth that envelops us is more dangerous and even more deeply rooted.
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We are also fooled by the same kind of myth that makes us unable to think critically before someone like Darwin makes drastic scientific progress, but our consistent belief in economic growth is far more dangerous and even more deeply rooted.
Thus the resurgence of Keynesian economics. Prime the pump with billions in government funds. Pray that tax breaks and fiscal stimulus will boost investment, production, and jobs.
Thus the Keynesian economics again influences the economic thinking, which argues that the government must stimulate and revive economy by throwing money in its funds and cutting taxes, hoping that it will encourage private investment, increase production and create more jobs.
“Human activity is putting such a heavy strain on Earth’s natural functions,” the report warned, “that the ability of the planet’s ecosystems to sustain human endeavor can no longer be taken for granted.”
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Earth’s natural functions have taken so much pressure from human activities that we can no longer assume the planet’s ecosystem can sustain human survival.
Free market cheerleaders believe that technology and human ingenuity will solve the problem. The economy can be “de-coupled” from material inputs, they claim, and improved technology will allow us to produce more wealth with less energy, materials, and waste. This is whistling in the dark.
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Those who promote free market believe that the problem can be solved with technological advancement and human creativity. They claim that the economy can be separated from material inputs, and we can use better technology to produce more material gains with fewer energy, materials and waste. This is them pretending to be unafraid.
I was aware that many men who have accumulated more millions of money than they can ever use have shown a rabid hunger for more, and have not scrupled to cheat the ignorant and the helpless put of their poor savings in order to appease that appetite.
I knew that many men who have collected more money than they can ever use have shown a mad desire to get more, and they have not hesitated to cheat the ignorant and helpless poor people and steal their poor savings in order to satisfy their desire to a certain degree.
In the course of my experiments I convince myself that among the animals man is the only one that harbors insults and injuries, broods over them, waits till a chance offers, then takes revenge. The passion of revenge is unknown to the higher animals.
The experiments make me believe that among the animals man is the only one that keeps insults and injuries in mind, thinks about them for a long time, waits until a chance comes up and then takes revenge.
