A great empire cannot bring freedom by its own decay to those corners in it where a subject people are prevented from discussing the fundamentals of … - Rebecca West

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A great empire cannot bring freedom by its own decay to those corners in it where a subject people are prevented from discussing the fundamentals of life. The people feel like children turned adrift to fend for themselves when the imperial routine breaks down; and they wander to and fro, given up to instinctive fears and antagonisms and exaltation until reason dares to take control. I had come to Yugoslavia to see what history meant in flesh and blood. I learned now that it might follow, because an empire passed, that a world full of strong men and women and rich food and heady wine might nevertheless seem like a shadow-show: that a man of every excellence might sit by a fire warming his hands in the vain hope of casting out a chill that lived not in the flesh.

English
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About Rebecca West

Dame Cicily Isabel Fairfield DBE (21 December 1892 – 15 March 1983), known as Rebecca West, or Dame Rebecca West, was a British author, journalist, literary critic and travel writer.

Biography information from Wikiquote

Also Known As

Pen Names: Lynx
Birth Name: Cecily Isabel Fairfield
Alternative Names: West, Dame Rebecca Dame Rebecca West Cicely Fairchild Cicily Isabel Andrews Cicily Andrews Cicely Isabel Fairfield Cicily Isobel Fairfield Cicily Isabel Fairfield Cicily Fairfield Andrews Mrs H. M. Andrews Cicily Fairfield Dame Cicely Isabel Fairfield Cicily Farifield
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Additional quotes by Rebecca West

After any disturbance (such as two world wars coinciding with a period of growing economic and monetary incomprehensibility) we find our old concepts inadequate and look for new ones. But it unfortunately happens that the troubled times which produce an appetite for new ideas are the least propitious for clear thinking.

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"who" is your home? Your home is so much more than just an impersonal roof over your head. In fact, the personality of your home "lives with you" and influences you as much as the actual people and pets that share your space. That means it's important to figure out just "who" it is you are living with. So If your home were a persona that woke up next to you every day, stood in the kitchen each morning when you poured your first cup of coffee and waited at the front door when you arrived, who would it be? For me, my home is like a best friend who waits for me at the front door with cookies and flowers, and who greets me in the kitchen with a cheery "Good morning." Nice, eh?

(Happy Starts at Home: Getting the Life You Want by Changing the Space You've Got, Rebecca West)

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