Susan Sontag Quotes

I think a lot of folks are beginning to feel that the forces that are tearing us apart in this country are stronger than the forces that tie us together. I don't believe that.

I think we have a tendency in America to keep dividing ourselves, separating ourselves from each other.

I can't imagine a society with absolutely no solidarity. For me, it's a nightmare. And I don't want to live in a place like that.

I believe in the greatness of our people.

On the Net, the bell curve reclaims its tails. The uncommon is as accessible as the common. The very fragmentation of the Internet allows us to find ourselves in other people - and to know that we are not alone.

Denmark is like a big family of people.

We don't see ourselves as just a place where we come to worship but as a beacon and a bearer of the culture and a bearer of what makes us a people. But I like to say that this is not necessarily unique to us. It is really what America is all about.

'Lost' seems to be the inverse of 'Air': It explores dispossession and identity by forcing a bunch of people into one invented landscape instead of using many invented landscapes to keep people apart.

In community people remain essentially united in spite of all separating factors, while in society they are essentially separated in spite of all uniting factors.

A nation divided against itself cannot stand.

The instinctive need to be the member of a closely knit group fighting for common ideals may grow so strong that it becomes inessential what these ideals are

Every kingdom divided against itself shall be desolated.

Americans divide most sharply over what brings them together.

Have I always agreed with my Southern, military, Mormon family? Absolutely not. Have we always figured out how to get along? Yes! At the point at which politics supersedes the family and community, we've got a real problem.

It's usually good news when people call collectively.

If everyone's doing their own little thing, then guess what, you ain't gonna come together and form one and be stronger.

Cinema is a great binding force for a nation.

America to me is where I grew up: in Brooklyn, around other black and Latino people who helped and loved each other. I just want to show people that America doesn't have to be this 'I'm in the NRA, blah blah blah' type of place.

We're so bitterly divided these days, the appearance of a true 'other' might be the best chance of bringing us all together.

In South Africa, we kind of like looking for things that unite people in big, big groups.

Too many prefer to cling to the thing that divides us, and precious few are willing to come together over the thing that unites us.

I think we need strength. I think we also need somebody that can be a cheerleader. He's been a great divider in this country. I think race relations now are as bad as they've ever been. I guess they have, statistically, the worst they've been in 18 years. I don't know what 18 years means, how do they determine that, but I can tell you they're bad and they haven't been this bad in a long time. And we have somebody that really was in a position to do just the opposite, but this tremendous divide in this country. I see it, everybody sees it.

We are not taught "love thy neighbor unless their skin is a different color from yours " or "love thy neighbor unless they don't make money as you do" or "love thy neighbor unless they don't share your belies." We are taught "love thy neighbor". No exceptions. We are all in this together - every single one of us. And the only way we are going to survive as a society is through compassion. A Great Community does not mean we all think the same things or do the same things. It simply means we are willing to work together and are willing to love despite our differences.

Only ways you can keep folks hating is to keep them apart and separated from each other.

I'm interested in the ongoing war between the individual and community. That inner dissent against whatever group is surrounding you. No one wants to cede their selfhood to a group, right? And yet no one can exactly live outside the group, either. Even the most obstinate survivalist probably lives in some telepathic communion with all the other obstinate survivalists out there in the woods.