"Flaubert didn't just hate the railway as such; he hated the way it flattered people with the illusion of progress. What was the point of scientific advance without moral advance? The railway would merely permit more people to move about, meet and be stupid together."

Society, Progress, Ethics, Truth, Reflection

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"Flaubert didn't just hate the railway as such; he hated the way it flattered people with the illusion of progress. What was the point of scientific advance without moral advance? The railway would merely permit more people to move about, meet and be stupid together."

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"A society becomes a breeding ground of violence and terrorism when it closes its door to new ideas and forces the citizens to live in the prison of conforming thoughts."

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"Don't judge people by their religious, cultural, or professional background. Judge if you must, by their behavior with other people."

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"A country is poor not because they have no wealth but because they have no good ideas."

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"Either you are homophobic or you are a human - you cannot be both."

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"It's strange how money seems to silence a neighborhood," I say quietly. "On my street, where no one has money, it's so loud. Sirens blaring, people shouting, car doors slamming, stereos thumping. There's always someone, somewhere, making noise."

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"The overload of useless ceremonials and worship have crippled the whole nation. If you want to do good to your nation and yourself, then throw away your ancient ceremonials as far as possible."

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"American corporate capitalism is a murder-suicide mission."

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"We are equal by fault, but never equal in acceptance."

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"It's quite unfortunate how some people would like you when you are barely making ends meet, but would hate you with a passion if you start to do well."

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Explore more quotes by Julian Barnes

"To be stupid, and selfish, and to have good health are the three requirements for happiness - though if stupidity is lacking, the others are useless."

Happiness

"Is there anything more plausible than a second hand?"

Philosophy

"The best life for a writer is the life which helps him write the best books he can."

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"But life never lets you go, does it? You can't put down life the way you put down a book."

Life

"May you be ordinary, as the poet once wished the new-born baby."

Life

"If a memory wasn't a thing but a memory of a memory of a memory, mirrors set in parallel, then what the brain told you now about what it claimed had happened then would be coloured by what had happened in between. It was like a country remembering its history: the past was never just the past, it was what made the present able to live with itself."

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"The writer has little control over personal temperament, none over historical moment, and is only partly in charge of his or her own aesthetic."

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"Everything you invent is true: you can be sure of that. Poetry is a subject as precise as geometry."

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"Art is the whisper of history, heard above the noise of time. Art does not exist for art's sake: it exists for people's sake."

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"Loving humanity means as much, and as little, as loving raindrops, or loving the Milky Way. You say that you love humanity? Are you sure you aren't treating yourself to easy self-congratulation, seeking approval, making certain you're on the right side?"

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