Quotations

"The hatred that men bear to privilege increases in proportion as privileges become fewer and less considerable, so that democratic passions would seem to burn most fiercely just when they have least fuel.” Alexis de Tocqueville's remark is relevant to Black Lives Matter, #Metoo and intersectionality

'No woman marries for money; they are all clever enough, before marrying a millionaire, to fall in love with him first.' Cesare Pavese

“We are not waging war against individuals. We are exterminating the bourgeoisie as a class. . . . Do not look for evidence that the accused acted in word or deed against Soviet power. The first question should be to what class does he belong. . . . It is this that should determine his fate.” Martyn Latsis, an official of the Cheka, Lenin’s secret police, in a 1918 instruction to interrogators which seems topical.

"Man in communication with his Maker is sublime, his activities creative. The instant he separates himself from God to act alone, on the other hand, he does not lose his power, for it is a privilege of his nature, but his activity is negative and leads only to destruction." Joseph de Maistre, On God and Society, p. 42. This was topical during the French revolution, under Communism and, perhaps more than ever, now.