“The hallmarks of a dishonest society are cash for silence, non-disclosure agreements and the illegal removal of rights of those in the know.”

“The saddest instance of the lack of real freedom, arising from the lack of real knowledge, is revealed to us in Leo Tolstoy’s latest work, a work which at the same time, by virtue of its creative, poetic force, ranks almost first among all that has appeared in Russian literature since 1840. No! without culture, without freedom in the widest sense, freedom within oneself, freedom from preconceived ideas, freedom with regard to one’s own nation and history, without this, the real artist is unthinkable; without this free air he cannot breathe.”

“The process of secularisation arises not from the loss of faith but from the loss of social interest in the world of faith. It begins the moment men feel that religion is irrelevant to the common way of life and that society as such has nothing to do with the truths of faith.”

“Due to the experience of being in new places, our horizons and knowledge of foreign languages expand, which also influences the development and mental health of the person”

“With a Masters in Management from USC, I did some consultant work in Reorganization, New Products, and Change. Amazon was smart to have me as a Beta and got my advice for free. Amazon was the only company who did because for other companies, it wasn’t. But what I got from Amazon is a good understanding of how they operate, the culture, and the people behind the business – Strong by Kailin Gow”

“They say if you don’t know your history, you’re doomed to repeat it. Unfortunately, most Americans can’t even figure out what’s going on in the present.”

“A corollary of this has been that Christians have thought that they should only create art with a Pollyanna quality to it: paintings of birds and kittens, movies that extol family life and end happily, songs that are positive and uplifting – in short, works of art that show a world that is almost unfallen where no one experiences conflict and where sin is naughty rather than wicked.”

“[Photography] allows me to accede to an infra-knowledge; it supplies me with a collection of partial objects and can flatter a certain fetishism of mine: for this ‘me’ which like knowledge, which nourishes a kind of amorous preference for it. In the same way, I like certain biographical features which, in a writer’s life, delight me as much as certain photographs; I have called these features ‘biographemes’; Photography has the same relation to History that the biographeme has to biography.”

“Many modern artists, philosophers, and theologians reject the knowledge of the past. Thus they must continually start over again from ground zero, their vision restricted to their own narrow perspectives, making themselves artificially primitive.”

“The fear of death is why we build cathedrals, have children, declare war, and watch cat videos online at three a.m.”

“In Sri Lanka curiosity was not a trait encouraged among children, particularly in girls, because those in power- often males, but anyone older, or of higher caste, education or influence- were always right and their reasons needn’t be explained or understood to the subordinate.”

“As goes the family, so goes the faith; as goes the faith, so goes the culture.”

“Yoga is the art work of awareness on the canvas of body, mind, and soul.”

“When individuals and communities do not govern self, they risk being ruled by external forces that care less about the well-being of the village.”

“The first step – especially for young people with energy and drive and talent, but not money – the first step to controlling your world is to control your culture. To model and demonstrate the kind of world you demand to live in. To write the books. Make the music. Shoot the films. Paint the art.”