"God forbid that any book should be banned. The practice is as indefensible as infanticide."
"Charity is an ugly trick. It is a virtue grown by the rich on the graves of the poor. Unless it is accompanied by sincere revolt against the present social system, it is a cheap moral swagger. In former times it was used as fire insurance by the rich, but now that the fear of Hell has gone along with the rest of revealed religion, it is used either to gild mean lives with nobility or as a political instrument."
3 likes
Source: Rebecca West, Jane Marcus (1982). “The Young Rebecca: Writings of Rebecca West, 1911-17”, New York : Viking Press
About the author
Same author
More quotes by Rebecca West
"I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat."
"Motherhood is the strangest thing, it can be like being one's own Trojan horse."
"The main difference between men and women is that men are lunatics and women are idiots."
"There is no logical reason why the camel of great art should pass through the needle of mob intelligence."
"Behind it was that vast suspension bridge which always troubles me because it reminds me that in this mechanized age I am as little able to understand my environment as any primitive woman who thinks that a waterfall is inhabited by a spirit, and indeed less so, for her opinion might from a poetical point of view be correct."