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The politics of the unpolitical—these are the politics of those who desire to be pure in heart: the politics of men without personal ambition; of those who have not desires wealth or an unequal share of worldly possessions; of those who have always striven, whatever their race or condition, for human values and not for national or sectional interests. For our Western world, Christ is the supreme example of this unselfish devotion to the good of humanity, and the Sermon on the Mount is the source of all the politics of the unpolitical.

— Herbert Read

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Politics

More quotes by Herbert Read

All revolutions in modern times, Camus points out, have led to a reinforcement of the power of the State.

Foreword (1956)

These are the sensations and feelings that are gradually blunted by education, staled by custom, rejected in favor of social conformity.

Collected Poems (1966)

The work of art … is an instrument for tilling the human psyche, that it may continue to yield a harvest of vital beauty.

Collected Poems (1966)

Restraint is not the contrary of revolt.

Foreword (1956)

True poetry is never speech but always a song.

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Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it.

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Every Communist must grasp the truth: Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.

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Three-fourths of the Italian economy, industrial and agricultural, is in the hands of the state.

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Fear and destructiveness are the major emotional sources of fascism, eros belongs mainly to democracy.

Theodor Adorno The Authoritarian Personality (1950)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Herbert Read (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.