Thought provoking
We say that a symbol stands for something, but all too often a symbol merely stands in for something. The American flag is supposed to stand for freedom, but it can very easily stand in for freedom. In singing the anthem, we treat its values as permanent, or as if they were enacted by song. But praise is not practice.
Timothy Snyder • On Freedom
Only people can be free. If we believe something else makes us free, we never learn what we must do.
The moment you believe that freedom is given, it is gone
Timothy Snyder • On Freedom
Instead of responding to our emotions impulsively, we can observe them and then question them. Is this helpful? Is this truthful? Is this coming from a place of clear perspective, or a lingering past wound?
Brianna Wiest • When You're Ready, This Is How You Heal
/// 100 QUESTIONS /// to gain clarity via Alex Morris:
Why are we doing this?
Ask that of yourself and the team with regularity.
What’s the simplest explanation?
What reaction should all the creative achieve?
What’s your most controversial opinion?
What little frictions exist that might bleed out the work if allowed to compo
Thoughts and emotions are possibilities to ponder, not facts to accept. We don’t always invite them in, but we do decide whether they deserve to stay.
It is your ability to discern facts that makes you an individual, and our collective trust in common knowledge that makes us a society. The individual who investigates is also the citizen who builds. The leader who dislikes the investigators is a potential tyrant.
Timothy Snyder • On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
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