Civilization exists precisely so that there may be no masses but rather men alert enough never to constitute masses. – Georges Bernanos
The modern state no longer has anything but rights; it does not recognize duties any more. – Georges Bernanos
I know the compassion of others is a relief at first. I dont despise it. But it cant quench pain, it slips through your soul as through a sieve. And when our suffering has been dragged from one pity to another, as from one mouth to another, we can no longer respect or love it. – Georges Bernanos
God ordains that beggars should beg for greatness, as for all else, when greatness shines out of them, and they dont know it. – Georges Bernanos
Leave this hypocritical prating about the masses. Masses are rude, lame, unmade, pernicious in their demands and influence, and need not to be flattered, but to be schooled. I wish not to concede anything to them, but to tame, drill, divide, and break them up, and draw individuals out of them. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Today the discredit of words is very great. Most of the time the media transmit lies. In the face of an intolerable world, words appear to change very little. State power has become congenitally deaf, which is why –but the editorialists forget it –terrorists are reduced to bombs and hijacking. – John Berger