'Civil government, so far as it is instituted for the security of property, is in reality instituted for the defence of the rich against the poor, or of those who have some property against those who have none at all.'
Adam Smith
How is it named, when the day rises, like today, and everything
may be ruined and ravaged, but nonetheless one can breathe the air,
whilst all may be lost and the city burns as the innocent kill one
another, but in a corner the guilty agonise as the day rises.
- That has a very beautiful name. It is called aurora - the new dawn.
Jean Giraudoux. Electre (1937)
"These are the last things. A house is there one day, and the next
day it is gone. A street you walked down yesterday is no longer
there today. Even the weather is in constant flux..... When you
live in the city, you learn to take nothing for granted. Close your
eyes for a moment, turn around to look at something else, and the
thing that was before you is suddenly gone. Nothing lasts, you see,
not even the thoughts inside you. And you mustn't waste your time
looking for them. Once a thing is gone, that is the end of it."
Paul Auster
In the country of Last Things.
