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May 22, 2007
the vocation of the intellectual
i understand the vocation of the intellectual as trying to turn easy answers into critical questions and putting those critical questions to people with power. the quest for truth, the quest for the good, the quest for the beautiful all require us to let suffering speak, let victims be visible and social misery be put on the agenda of those with power. so to me, pursuing the life of the mind is inextricably linked with the struggle of those who have been dehumanized on the margins of society.
--dr. cornel west
Posted by ali at 12:05 AM | TrackBack
May 19, 2007
black hope
black hope is not the same as the american dream, just like let freedom ring is not the same as the bling-bling.
--dr. cornel west
Posted by ali at 6:12 PM | TrackBack
a blues man
"a blues man always has a sad soul and a cheerful disposition, but never allows misery to have the last word."
--dr. cornel west
Posted by ali at 5:16 PM | TrackBack
he never confused...
"like socrates dr. martin luther king jr. never confused success with greatness, he never confused financial prosperity with moral magnanimity, he never confused economic security with personal integrity, he never confused professional consciousness with deep moral commitment. what an example!"
--dr. cornel west
Posted by ali at 4:20 PM | TrackBack
May 16, 2007
the sentence of grace
"i believe in God, mozart and beethoven...i believe in the Holy Spirit and the truth of the one, individual Art...i believe that through this Art all men are saved, and therefore each may die of hunger for Her...i believe...that true disciples of high Art will be transfigured in a heavenly veil of sun-drenched fragrance and sweet sound, and united for eternity with the divine fount of all Harmony. may mine be the sentence of grace! amen!"
--richard wagner, german composer
Posted by ali at 4:01 PM | TrackBack
May 14, 2007
i am in front of this feminine land
Like a child in front of the fire
Smiling vaguely with tears in my eyes
In front of this land where all moves in me
Where mirrors mist where mirrors clear
Reflecting two nude bodies season on season
I’ve so many reasons to lose myself
On this road-less earth under horizon-less skies
Good reasons I ignored yesterday
And I’ll never ever forget
Good keys of gazes keys their own daughters
in front of this land where nature is mine
In front of the fire the first fire
Good mistress reason
Identified star
On earth under sky in and out of my heart
Second bud first green leaf
That the sea covers with sails
And the sun finally coming to us
I am in front of this feminine land
Like a branch in the fire.
--paul éluard
Posted by ali at 8:33 PM | TrackBack
May 11, 2007
the fortunate man
"fortunate is he who at an early age knows what art is."
--goethe
Posted by ali at 1:47 AM | TrackBack
palace of the soul
"the artist ought to believe in art and rely upon art, and live in it, for in the palace of the soul are many mansions, and his is not the least capacious nor the least permanent, whilst we are all aware that it is certainly not the least beautiful."
--philip gilbert hamerton, thoughts about art
Posted by ali at 1:40 AM | TrackBack
X
unknown, she was my favorite shape,
she who relieved me of the worry of being a man,
and I see her and I lose her and I suffer
my pain, like a little sunlight in cold water.
--paul éluard