Orwell on the Future - Lionel Trilling June 10, 1949 (Book review)

The rulers he envisages are men who, in seizing rule, have grasped the innermost principles of power. [...] The rulers of Orwell’s State know that power in its pure form has for its true end nothing but itself, and they know that the nature of power is defined by the pain it can inflict on others. They know, too, that just as wealth exists only in relation to the poverty of others, so power in its pure aspect exists only in relation to the weakness of others.

Z_各類摘抄 Excerpts

Robin, it was the realization of one of his most deeply felt and lifelong fears, to be told that he had an illness that would rob him of his faculties, by small, imperceptible increments every day, that would hollow him out and leave behind a depleted husk of a human being.

Among his associates who knew, there was unease: they were worried, of course, about Robin’s well-being, but also concerned about whether he was in a position to receive the assistance he needed.


- on Robin Williams, Vanity Fair