1961 Quotes

“The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings...Our way of life is under attack. Those who make themselves our enemy are advancing around the globe...no war ever posed a greater threat to our security. If you are awaiting a finding of "clear and present danger," then I can only say that the danger has never been more clear and its presence has never been more imminent...For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence–on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerrillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations. Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed.”
― President John F. Kennedy

“The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings...Our way of life is under attack. Those who make themselves our enemy are advancing around the globe...no war ever posed a greater threat to our security. If you are awaiting a finding of "clear and present danger," then I can only say that the danger has never been more clear and its presence has never been more imminent...For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence–on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerrillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations. Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed.”
― ohn F. Kennedy

“Two Leningrad women were summoned to the police station. Had they been at a party with some men? Yes. Had sexual intercourse taken place? (This had already been established with the aid of a reliable informer.) Er—yes. Right, then, which is it: did you take part in the sexual act voluntarily or against your will? If voluntarily, we shall have to regard you as prostitutes, you will hand over your passports and get out of Leningrad in forty-eight hours. If it was against your will, you must bring a charge of rape! The women were not a bit anxious to leave Leningrad! So the men got twelve years each.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: An Experiment in Literary Investigation, Books V-VII

“Öyle sanıyorum ki, sorular üzerinde düşünebilmem için bana yeterince uzun zaman bıraktınız, karşı çıkıcı bir tavır almama yetecek uzunlukta bir zaman.

"Siz, Sözcükler"i (Ihr Worte) yazdığımda, artık şiir yazmaya cesaret edemeyeli beş yıl olmuştu, artık tek bir şiir bile yazmak istemiyordum, adına şiir denen yaratıdan bir daha kaleme almayı kendime yasaklamıştım. Şiirlere bir düşmanlığım yok elbet, ama şunu düşünmelisiniz ki, insan ansızın her şeye karşı çıkabilir, her metafora, her tınıya, sözcükleri bir araya getirmeye ilişkin her türlü zorlamaya, sözcüklerle görüntülerin bu mutlak anlamda mutlu birlikteliğine karşı çıkabilir. İnsan bunun ne olduğunu, ne olması gerektiğini bir kez daha denetlemek için, bu birlikteliği boğmak isteyebilir.

Şiirler üzerine bildiklerim hâlâ az, ama bildiğim az şeyler arasında kuşku denen şey de var. Kendinden yeterince kuşkulanmalısın, sözcüklerden kuşkulanmalısın, demişimdir kendime sık sık, dilden kuşkulan, bu kuşkuyu derinleştir -derinleştir ki, günün birinde belki yeni bir şey ortaya çıkabilsin- ya da artık hiçbir şey çıkmasın.”
― Ingeborg Bachmann, Bu Tufandan Sonra

“the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe–the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.”
― John F Kennedy

“Waiting for someone to rescue him from abandment. Waiting. There was no one.”
― Clark E. Moustakas