The 70 best phrases of José Luis Sampedro
José Luis Sampedro (1917 - 2013) was a philosopher, economist and writer born in Barcelona. His humanist vision of social reality led him to be an intellectual reference for the Spanish left.
His criticism of the capitalist economy was based on the idea that this economic system dehumanizes and turns people into slaves of consumerism. Anarchist and left-wing militant, his books critically explain what we can do in the Western societies to improve our quality of life based on a more economic and social model human.
- Recommended article: "75 philosophical phrases spoken by great thinkers"
Phrases and reflections by José Luis Sampedro
Raised in Tangier, Morocco until the age of thirteen, Sampedro's life was long but intense. Among the multiple recognitions he obtained, the National Prize for Spanish Letters stands out, an honor that was granted to him in 2011.
In today's article Let's get to know this humanist more deeply with the 70 best phrases of José Luis Sampedro.
1. They rule us through fear.
About the ability of power to instill fear of political and social change.
2. We are nature. Putting money as the supreme good leads us to catastrophe.
A society that is only driven by money is a society with corrupt ethics.
3. May 15 must be more than an oasis in the desert; It must be the beginning of an arduous struggle until we achieve that, in effect, we are neither nor taken for “merchandise in the hands of politicians and bankers.” Let us say “no” to financial tyranny and its devastating consequences.
About him 15-M movement and its objectives.
4. The Western system of life is ending.
About the latest blows that, in the opinion of José Luis Sampedro, current capitalism is giving.
5. The Hispanic religious cult has given way to a new faith, in which priests emerge from an underground cavity and officiate with their feet.
A scathing critique in verse form about religion in Spain.
6. I have learned that Barcelona buses will also not be able to have condom advertising during the Pope's visit to Spain. Will it also not be possible to make love during the Pope's visit to Spain?
Another irony about the ability of the Catholic Church to censor all types of expressions that do not agree with its doctrine.
7. When I say Humanity I exaggerate, because I believe that there is no Humanity; there are human beings. We have been two thousand years since Ancient Greece, technical progress has been made in a fabulous, almost implausible way, but we continue killing each other, not knowing how to live together on this planet. The man has not matured enough.
A great reflection by Sampedro about the barbarism that wars entail.
8. There are peripheral cultures where being something is more important than having something. While here one is nothing more than what one has and he who does not have is not.
About him egocentrism and the materialism of European society.
9. One writes by being a miner of oneself.
Interesting thought about expressing your own ideas.
10. What they call "Public Opinion" is a media opinion: an opinion created by education and the media.
It is difficult to have one's own criteria in a society that is so mediated and in which education restricts the range of possibilities for thinking and rethinking our way of life.
11. Without freedom of thought, freedom of expression is of no use.
In fact, they are two principles with a great connection.
12. Although the Vatican maintains that chastity is the supreme value, in any case, it seems to me to be the greatest sexual aberration.
As animals that we are, we must be sexual, at least if we want to.
13. Capitalism is exhausted.
Another phrase from José Luis Sampedro in relation to the capitalist system.
14. It is amazing that Humanity still does not know how to live in peace, that words like 'competitiveness' rule over words like 'coexistence'.
The law of the market makes us insensitive to others.
15. That people accept cuts and see them as almost necessary is due to one of the most important forces that motivate man; the fear. Governing by fear is very effective. If you threaten people that you are going to cut their throats, and then you don't cut their throats, but you exploit them, hitch them to a car... They will think; Well, at least he hasn't cut our throats.
The role of fear in the absence of social protests it is absolutely essential.
16. From childhood we are taught; first to believe what the authorities, the priests, the parents tell us... And then to reason about what we have believed. Freedom of thought is the other way around, the first thing is to reason and then we will believe what seems good to us about what we reason.
A great way to indicate that unlearning learned values and norms is an unnatural act.
17. There are two types of economists: those who work to make the rich richer and those who work to make the poor less poor.
One of José Luis Sampedro's most remembered phrases.
18. In April 1939 I realized that mine had not won. Neither one nor the other were mine.
It seems strange, but Sampedró fought on the national side.
19. When I was nine years old I tried to be a Jesuit. At 19, anarchist.
His change of mentality was radical.
20. We are in a crisis that I call barbarism, because it is barbarism.
The economic crisis was devastating in Spain. Hence Sampedro's comment.
21. The system is broken and lost, that's why you have a future.
Precisely for the possibility of inaugurating a new time.
22. In your hunger you rule.
To reflect.
23. We should be outraged 1,000 times more.
Of course, the political situation in Spain makes us angry with the system.
24. Getting off is: while the river of humanity historically continues forward, I sit on the side of the road and watch them pass. Because I don't need addictions, I keep everything that humanity has done so far, for many years.
A laudable philosophical attitude.
25. Austerity is very sad when it is imposed on us, but it doesn't cost any work when you have it.
A great clarification on the concept of austerity, so poorly used by economic forces.
26. We are living a tragic moment. The current minister is a threat to Spanish education. He is a man whose politics must be defined as “Counter-Reformation.” In the history of Spain there is a moment in the 16th century, when the Protestants, Luther and others began in Europe, when the Counter-Reformation was established, as opposition to the advance. Wert represents the Counter-Reformation and with it it is not possible to form free citizens.
About Juan Ignacio Wert, Minister of Culture of the Popular Party.
27. I'm not saying that the past is the best. I say that capitalism was nascent at the time, but now it is unsustainable. The best definition of its decline was given by Bush. He said: "I have suspended the market rules to save the market." That is, the market is incompatible with its own rules.
Lethal conclusion about system exhaustion.
28. What has impressed me most about this 20th century that is ending is human stupidity and brutality.
A century full of bad times.
29. Europe is like a boss who never answers the phone.
She is there, but never resolves conflicts when they arise.
30. I always have a notebook open, where I write down what I'm thinking, but I don't do it daily. Not every day things happen that are worth writing down. If you force this task and do it on a daily basis, you expose yourself to writing texts that are not important.
About the art of prioritizing truly relevant ideas or events.
31. After this crisis, the next thing in the short term will be another crisis.
This is the logic of the current market.
32. I am not interested in happiness and I do not believe that it depends on greater or lesser intelligence. But of course not demanding too much makes it easier to get along with yourself, which is my substitute for happiness.
An austere life is the best potion to be happy.
33. Are people crazy? No, people are manipulated.
We allow ourselves to be influenced too easily.
34. [The Republic] spread hope and enthusiasm (except to those who wanted undue privileges), and I experienced it as natural. That's why Francoism seemed so unnatural, anti-human to me! [In the war] the north fell in 1937..., and I was mobilized as a Franco soldier: seeing bishops blessing cannons convinced me that that side was defending privileges and pesetas. (About the Civil War).
Talking about the first half of the 20th century in Spain.
35. This world is betraying life.
One of those José Luis Sampedro phrases that are as raw as they are authentic.
36. The day you are born you start to die a little. We are used to seeing death as something negative, and I am so close that I can't stop thinking about this matter. but I think with vital joy. What they don't teach us is that the day you are born you begin to die, and death accompanies us every day.
About death and how we perceive it in our society.
37. Do we have a lot of free time to live ourselves, or do we constantly ask to be lived? We have not learned to live!
This is how pessimistic Sampedro is about how we face existence.
38. Freedom is like a kite. It flies because it is tied.
A paradox that other authors have already explained previously.
39. Because it is by hitting rock bottom, even if it is in bitterness and degradation, where one comes to know who one is. and where then he begins to step firmly.
When we have a strong shake is when we understand where we are and where we can go.
40. The system has organized a casino so that the same people always win.
A metaphor about the market system.
41. We are educated to be producers and consumers, not to be free men.
A direct criticism of the educational system of our time.
42. We are at a time when many problems are being talked about. Well, the most serious today is the Ministry of Education. With its cuts and insensitivity, less fortunate children are deprived of opportunities, study hours, classes, classrooms and support teachers. The intelligence of these children is being castrated, closing the doors to the future while religious education is favored with secular money.
Specifically criticizing the educational system of Spain.
43. You can only educate if you have well-disposed resources in a good educational system.
Another phrase giving importance to the education of each country.
44. We should live as many times as the trees, which after a bad year put out new leaves and start again.
Getting rid of vices should be as easy as getting rid of dry leaves.
45. Achieving free thought in today's society is difficult because democracy is perverted and hijacked.
The media is largely to blame for this.
46. In a sudden impulse they hugged, hugged, hugged. Each one putting the other's in his chest until they kiss with their hearts. They felt themselves throbbing, they let go and, without more words, the old man got into the car. The two still looked at each other, through the glass, while Renato drove off.
A fragment of “The Etruscan Smile”.
47. How could I believe in sin, an idea so born of pride? If God is the creator of the entire Universe, can he be offended by a vermin gone wrong scratching the surface of a small planet? It is necessary to have a very exaggerated idea of what man is to believe him capable of offending an infinite creator.
Another outstanding fragment.
48. Man is the measure of all things, as the classical philosopher said. But now the obsession is to forget about it, to bury it under an avalanche of things. You must travel with the Kodak, since it is about the camera seeing; You get sick of failure if you don't have bank papers or an impressive car; Lives are exhausted in accumulating titles, pesetas, ribbons, chirimbolos, quotes in the newspapers... As if the essential thing were not exactly the opposite: surrounding things of man!
Philosophical reflection on the narcissism prevailing in the 21st century.
49. A smile has landed on the old man's sleeping lips, like a butterfly: the idea that fluttered in his heart when sleep enveloped him: Great, life!
Vitalistic thought of the great Sampedro.
50. I'm not interested in happiness. It's enough for me to be good with myself.
A certain resignation is key to being happy and not worrying too much.
51. The current system is dominated by three other magic words: Productivity, competitiveness and innovation, which should be replaced by distribution, cooperation and recreation.
Three key points to change and improve our societies.
52. Even if you lie to me, tell me that you love me. I repeated it to him, and many sweet things...(...) Surely he was happy, yes, surely...It was nice, you know?; making happy is beautiful...
A fragment in which Sampedro talks about love.
53. Time is invincible because it destroys itself at every moment.
Great thought about time and its essence.
54. You always can, when you want.
If you want you can. If you don't want to, you look for excuses.
55. The child is always searching. So, if you don't feel wanted, you will necessarily think that the world fails and rejects you.
About the attention that children deserve.
56. What does it matter if my mouth is closed, when you think with your soul they hear you!
Everything is transmitted even if we don't want it to.
57. Remember well what I tell you, little son; Don't forget: women will always surprise you. You think you already know the entire deck, from the queen to the jack, and you get a new card.
About women and their surprising behaviors.
58. There is a lot of talk about the right to life, but not about how important the duty to live it is.
A twist to the abortion issue.
59. My pedagogy was always reduced to two words: love and provocation.
A way to synthesize their pedagogical approaches.
60. It is necessary to create a more humane, more supportive economy, capable of contributing to developing the dignity of people.
About the urgent need to improve the economy.
61. Public opinion is influenced by the media and the media is in the hands of those who They rule and those who rule favor those who say what suits them and erase everything that does not suit them. suits. So public opinion is, above all, media opinion.
Another phrase from José Luis Sampedro in which he criticizes the work of the media.
62. Life is difficult navigation without a good compass.
We all need to have a north from which to guide ourselves.
63. To the powerful, the more concessions are made, the more they demand, they are insatiable.
That is why it is advisable to have strong and resistant counterpowers.
64. Democracy is not the government of the people anywhere. What is voted? What makes us vote.
Unfortunately, the people vote without knowing why or for what purpose.
65. ...In these times it is easier to spread immorality than decency.
Ethics have been lost along the way.
66. The definitive step has already been taken, memory is no longer nostalgia but liberation...
Time heals everything.
67. I never intended to make history, but rather to better understand love and power, those two great passions of all time.
Its two main intellectual objectives.
68. The key is the internal development of each one, and not the exterior.
About personal development, key to a harmonious life.
69. Time is not money; Time is life.
Motivating and vitalist phrase from the great Sampedro.
70. Because only you have the wings for the flight that kills and gives life.
A great poetic phrase that should make us reflect.