Thoughts fo the Day: Thursday 15 October 2020 (with a belated birthday celebration of Hannah Arendt)

 

                                Hannah Arendt: born 14 October 1906 in Linden-Limmer, Germany

Well, I blew it. Yesterday was Hannah Arendt's birthday. She was born on 14 October 1906 and died in December 1975. To celebrate her life and her contribution to our understanding of ourselves and our world, here are some quotes from her. 

“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction [..] and the distinction between true and false [..] no longer exists.” - Hannah Arendt

“When people are atomised, a movement or a strongman arises and he offers a story or an ideology which claims to explain everything, why people are unhappy.” - Hannah Arendt

"The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil." - Hannah Arendt

"You say philosophy is generally considered a masculine occupation... It need not remain a masculine occupation." - Hannah Arendt

"Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it." - Hannah Arendt

"I can assure you that my personal needs as an individual are fulfilled when I have good books, good music, and good friends." - Hannah Arendt

Thanks to the Twitter account @EthicsinBricks for the above quotes.

And for the deeper dive today: 

Essays in Understanding, 1930-1954

Hannah Arendt

To me, modern masses are distinguished by the fact that they are “masses” in a strict sense of the word. They are distinguished from the multitudes of former centuries in that they do not have common interests to bind them together or any kind of common “consent” which, according to Cicero, constitutes inter-est, that which is between men, ranging all the way from material to spiritual and other matters. This “between” can be a common ground and it can be a common purpose; it always fulfills the double function of binding men together and separating them in an articulate way. The lack of common interest so characteristic of modern masses is therefore only another sign of their homelessness and rootlessness.