Quotes About Control

Minha consciência não passava de uma ferramenta de distorção, e meu controle, de conjecturas incertas, pura adivinhação. [...] O auto-engano era agora minha última esperança. Um ferido não exige que o curativo improvisado esteja necessariamente limpo

A los otros es preciso destruirlos. A todos. Para que yo pueda levantar mi rostro al sol es necesario que sea devastado el mundo entero...

Puesto que la vida es un extravio, se diría que el más sensato de los desengaños consiste en elaborar un extravio artificial, ordenado y lógico, en el mismo interior de ese extravio enmarañado e incontrolable.

Non gli dispiaceva raccontare di sé, ma era spaventoso come l'evocazione dei ricordi servisse solo a rendere la sua esistenza sempre più ambigua e incerta. [...] la parte di ricordanze che aveva la funzione di controllo e di indagine non andava forse accumulandosi di nascosto come letame?" pp.1338-9, Yukio Mishima, Romanzi e Racconti, La casa di Kyoko, volume 1, i Meridiani

You can do whatever you want. Besides the works of the Hikaris…seem to be destined to end up with the Niwas.

Freedom is taking control of the rudder of your life.

Sarasa, even if you feel that destiny is toying with you, destiny is something you design with your own hands.

The dog which remembers only to bark and not to bite, and is led through the streets as a lady's pet, is only a degenerate wolf.

We did not domesticate wheat. It domesticated us.

Is there anything more dangerous than dissatisfied and irresponsible gods who don't know what they want?

Every day millions of people decide to grant their smartphone a bit more control over their lives or try a new and more effective antidepressant drug. In pursuit of health, happiness and power, humans will gradually change first one of their features and then another, and another, until they will no longer be human.

Terrorists are like a fly that tries to destroy a china shop. The fly is so weak that it cannot budge even a single teacup. So it finds a bull, gets inside its ear and starts buzzing. The bull goes wild with fear and anger, and destroys the china shop. (p.21)

Have you seen those zombies who roam the streets with their faces glued to their smartphones? Do you think they control the technology, or does the technology control them?

Many people] are happy to follow the advice of their smartphones or to take whatever drug the doctor prescribes, but when they hear of upgraded superhumans, they say: 'I hope, I will be dead before that happens

For religions, spirituality is a dangerous threat.

Technology isn't bad. If you know what you want in life, technology can help you get it. But if you don't know what you want in life, it will be all too easy for technology to shape your aims for you and take control of your life. Especially as technology gets better at understanding humans, you might increasingly find yourself serving it, instead of it serving you.

It is extremely hard to discover the truth when you are ruling the world. You are just far too busy.

As a species, humans prefer power to truth. We spend far more time and effort on trying to control the world than on trying to understand it—and even when we try to understand it, we usually do so in the hope that understanding the world will make it easier to control it.

The algorithms controlling humans work through sensations, emotions and thoughts.

Though the challenges are unprecedented, and though the disagreements are intense, humankind can rise to the occasion if we keep our fears under control and be a bit more humble about our views.

how does a fascist decide what to teach kids in school? He uses the same yardstick. Teach the kids whatever serves the interests of the nation; the truth does not matter.

data will eclipse both land and machinery as the most important asset, and politics will be a struggle to control the flow of data.

Once politicians can press our emotional buttons directly, generating anxiety, hatred, joy, and boredom at will, politics will become a mere emotional circus.

Even if you don't know how to cash in on the data today, it is worth having it because it might hold the key to controlling and shaping life in the future.