Frasi di Celia Elizabeth Green

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“Society expresses its sympathy for the geniuses of the past to distract attention from the fact that it has no intention of being sympathetic to the geniuses of the present.”

“I cannot write long books; I leave that for those who have nothing to say.”

“Society is a self-regulating mechanism for preventing the fulfilment of its members.”

“People accept their limitations so as to prevent themselves from wanting anything they might get.”

“People having religions is an insult to the universe.”

“The human race has to be bad at psychology; if it were not, it would understand why it is bad at everything else.”

“Now if anyone were reminded about the inconceivable by the fact of existence at all constantly, he would sooner or later have the perception that there may be inconceivable considerations which are inconceivably more important than any conceivable consideration could be.”

“Young people wonder how the adult world can be so boring. The secret is that it is not boring to adults because they have learned to enjoy simple things like covert malice at one another's expense. This is why they talk so much about the value of human understanding and sympathy - it has a certain rarity value in their world.”

“Democracy: everyone should have an equal opportunity to obstruct everybody else.”

“I spent a couple of years between eleven and thirteen analysing the social evaluations that were taken for granted, also acquiring a thorough scepticism about processes regarded as causal, and the consistency of the physical world, as well as the reliability of my own mental processes. By the time I was thirteen I was running out of things to think about, so starting on a run of exam-taking seemed all the more appropriate, as I was finding it difficult to make use of spare time.”

“The only important thing to realise about history is that it all took place in the last five minutes.”

“What appear to be the most valuable aspects of the theoretical physics we have are the mathematical descriptions which enable us to predict events. These equations are, we would argue, the only realities we can be certain of in physics; any other ways we have of thinking about the situation are visual aids or mnemonics which make it easier for beings with our sort of macroscopic experience to use and remember the equations.”

“That society exists to frustrate the individual may be seen from its attitude to work. It is only morally acceptable if you do not want to do it. If you want to, it becomes a personal pleasure.”

“In the country of the blind the one-eyed man is lucky to escape with his life.”

“The perception that existence exists invalidates the normal personality, as does the imminence of death.”

“Education by the State is a contradiction in terms. Intellectual development is only possible to those who have seen through society.”

“Social justice' - the expression of universal hatred.”

“It is actually a principle of modern paternalism that if you want something you should be stopped from having it[…] Most foods are harmful to some people if taken in excess, and I expect the only reason that carrots are still available without a prescription is that no one has got very excited about them, or claimed that they might cure cancer.”

“The object of the educational system is to make the child feel suitably guilty for the harm that has been done to him.”