180 Quotes by Rutger Bregman

Hoe kan het toch dat iets zo waardeloos als een diamant zo waardevol is, en iets zo waardevol als water zo waardeloos?

[...] het belangrijkste wat ouders hun kinderen kunnen geven: vertrouwen.

Before long, machines would be doing all the work. This would free up “abundant scope for recreation,” enthused an English professor, “by immersion in the imaginative life, in art, drama, dance, and a hundred other ways of transcending the constraints of daily life.

While politicians endlessly stress the need to downsize government, they remain largely silent as the number of bullshit jobs goes right on growing. This results in scenarios where, on the one hand, governments cut back on useful jobs in sectors like healthcare, education, and infrastructure - resulting in unemployment - while on the other investing millions in the unemployment industry of training and surveillance whose effectiveness has long been disproven.

Die Zeit ist reif für das bedingungslose Grundeinkommen.

If you’re an avid follower of the news, it’s easy to get trapped by hopelessness. What’s the point of recycling, paying taxes and donating to charities when others shirk their duty? If you’re tempted by such thoughts, remember that cynicism is just another word for laziness. It’s an excuse not to take responsibility. Because if you believe most people are rotten, you don’t need to get worked up about injustice. The world is going to hell either way.

Mein zweiter Rat lautet: Legen Sie sich eine dickere Haut zu. Lassen Sie sich von niemandem etwas einreden. Wenn wir die Welt verändern wollen, müssen wir unrealistisch, unvernünftig und ungehörig sein.

Some things can become true merely because we believe in them–that pessimism becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. When modern economists assumed that people are innately selfish, they advocated policies that fostered self-serving behavior. When politicians convinced themselves that politics is a cynical game, that’s exactly what it became.

Belief in humankind's sinful nature also provides a tidy explanation for the existence of evil. When confronted with hatred or selfishness, you can tell yourself, 'Oh, well, that's just human nature.' But if you believe that people are essentially good, you have to question why evil exists at all. It implies that engagement and resistance are worthwhile, and it imposes an obligation to act.