Truisms

Jenny Holzer's 'Truisms'.
The list is too diverse (in both content and origin) to be considered a true manifesto, but since it's as close as she'll probably ever come to offering one, I'm categorizing it that way:

• a little knowledge can go a long way
• a lot of professionals are crackpots
• a man can't know what it is to be
  a mother
• a name means a lot just by itself
• a positive attitude means all the difference
  in the world
• a relaxed man is not necessarily a better man
• a sense of timing is the mark of genius
• a sincere effort is all you can ask
• a single event can have infinitely
  many interpretations
• a solid home base builds a sense of self
• a strong sense of duty imprisons you

• absolute submission can be a form
  of freedom
• abstraction is a type of decadence
• abuse of power comes as no surprise
• action causes more trouble than thought
• alienation produces eccentrics or
  revolutionaries
• all things are delicately interconnected
• ambition is just as dangerous as complacency
• ambivalence can ruin your life
• an elite is inevitable
• anger or hate can be a useful motivating force
• animalism is perfectly healthy
• any surplus is immoral
• anything is a legitimate area of investigation
• artificial desires are despoiling the earth

• at times inactivity is preferable to
  mindless functioning
• at times your unconsciousness is truer than
  your conscious mind
• automation is deadly
• awful punishment awaits really bad people
• bad intentions can yield good results
• being alone with yourself is increasingly unpopular
• being happy is more important than
  anything else
• being judgmental is a sign of life
• being sure of yourself means you're a fool
• believing in rebirth is the same as admitting defeat
• boredom makes you do crazy things
• calm is more conductive to creativity than is anxiety
• categorizing fear is calming
• change is valuable when the oppressed become tyrants
• chasing the new is dangerous to society
• children are the most cruel of all
• children are the hope of the future

• class action is a nice idea with no substance
• class structure is as artificial as plastic
• confusing yourself is a way to stay honest
• crime against property is relatively unimportant
• decadence can be an end in itself
• decency is a relative thing
• dependence can be a meal ticket
• description is more important than metaphor
• deviants are sacrificed to increase group solidarity
• disgust is the appropriate response to most situations
• disorganization is a kind of anesthesia
• don't place too much trust in experts

• drama often obscures the real issues
• dreaming while awake is a frightening contradiction
• dying and coming back gives you considerable perspective
• dying should be as easy as falling off a log
• eating too much is criminal
• elaboration is a form of pollution
• emotional responses are as valuable as intellectual responses
• enjoy yourself because you can't change anything anyway
• ensure that your life stays in flux
• even your family can betray you

• every achievement requires a sacrifice
• everyone's work is equally important
• everything that's interesting is new
• exceptional people deserve special concessions
• expiring for love is beautiful but stupid
• expressing anger is necessary
• extreme behavior has its basis in pathological psychology
• extreme self-consciousness leads to perversion
• faithfulness is a social not a biological law
• fake or real indifference is a powerful personal weapon
• fathers often use too much force
• fear is the greatest incapacitator
• freedom is a luxury not a necessity
• giving free rein to your emotions is an honest way to live
• go all out in romance and let the chips fall where they may
• going with the flow is soothing but risky

• good deeds eventually are rewarded
• government is a burden on the people
• grass roots agitation is the only hope
• guilt and self-laceration are indulgences
• habitual contempt doesn't reflect a finer sensibility
• hiding your emotions is despicable
• holding back protects your vital energies
• humanism is obsolete
• humor is a release
• ideals are replaced by conventional goals at a certain age

• if you aren't political your personal life should be exemplary
• if you can't leave your mark give up
• if you have many desires your life will be interesting
• if you live simply there is nothing to worry about
• ignoring enemies is the best way to fight
• illness is a state of mind
• imposing order is man's vocation for chaos is hell
• in some instances it's better to die than to continue
• inheritance must be abolished
• it can be helpful to keep going no matter what
• it is heroic to try to stop time
• it is man's fate to outsmart himself
• it is a gift to the world not to have babies
• it's better to be a good person than a famous person
• it's better to be lonely than to be with inferior people
• it's better to be naive than jaded
• it's better to study the living fact than to analyze history
• it's crucial to have an active fantasy life

• it's good to give extra money to charity
• it's important to stay clean on all levels
• it's just an accident that your parents are your parents
• it's not good to hold too many absolutes
• it's not good to operate on credit
• it's vital to live in harmony with nature
• just believing something can make it happen
• keep something in reserve for emergencies
• killing is unavoidable but nothing to be proud of
• knowing yourself lets you understand others
• knowledge should be advanced at all costs
• labor is a life-destroying activity
• lack of charisma can be fatal
• leisure time is a gigantic smoke screen
• listen when your body talks
• looking back is the first sign of aging and decay
• loving animals is a substitute activity
• low expectations are good protection
• manual labor can be refreshing and wholesome
• men are not monogamous by nature
• moderation kills the spirit
• money creates taste
• monomania is a prerequisite of success
• morals are for little people
• most people are not fit to rule themselves
• mostly you should mind your own business
• mothers shouldn't make too many sacrifices
• much was decided before you were born
• murder has its sexual side
• myth can make reality more intelligible

• noise can be hostile
• nothing upsets the balance of good and evil
• occasionally principles are more valuable than people
• offer very little information about yourself
• often you should act like you are sexless
• old friends are better left in the past
• opacity is an irresistible challenge
• pain can be a very positive thing
• people are boring unless they are extremists
• people are nuts if they think they are important
• people are responsible for what they do, unless they are insane
• people who don't work with their hands are parasites
• people who go crazy are too sensitive
• people won't behave if they have nothing to lose
• physical culture is second-best
• planning for the future is escapism
• playing it safe can cause a lot of damage in the long run
• politics is used for personal gain

• potential counts for nothing until it's realized
• private property created crime
• pursuing pleasure for the sake of pleasure will ruin you
• push yourself to the limit as often as possible
• raise boys and girls the same way
• random mating is good for debunking sex myths
• rechanneling destructive impulses is a sign of maturity
• recluses always get weak
• redistributing wealth is imperative
• relativity is no boon to mankind
• religion causes as many problems as it solves
• remember you always have freedom of choice
• repetition is the best way to learn
• resolutions serve to ease our conscience
• revolution begins with changes in the individual
• romantic love was invented to manipulate women
• routine is a link with the past
• routine small excesses are worse than then the occasional debauch

• sacrificing yourself for a bad cause is not a moral act
• salvation can't be bought and sold
• self-awareness can be crippling
• self-contempt can do more harm than good
• selfishness is the most basic motivation
• selflessness is the highest achievement
• separatism is the way to a new beginning
• sex differences are here to stay
• sin is a means of social control
• slipping into madness is good for the sake of comparison
• sloppy thinking gets worse over time
• solitude is enriching

• sometimes science advances faster than it should
• sometimes things seem to happen of their own accord
• spending too much time on self-improvement is antisocial
• starvation is nature's way
• stasis is a dream state
• sterilization is a weapon of the rulers
• strong emotional attachment stems from basic insecurity
• stupid people shouldn't breed
• survival of the fittest applies to men and animals

• symbols are more meaningful than things themselves
• taking a strong stand publicizes the opposite position
• talking is used to hide one's inability to act
• teasing people sexually can have ugly consequences
• technology will make or break us
• the cruelest disappointment is when you let yourself down
• the desire to reproduce is a death wish
• the family is living on borrowed time
• the idea of revolution is an adolescent fantasy

• the idea of transcendence is used to obscure oppression
• the idiosyncratic has lost its authority
• the most profound things are inexpressible
• the mundane is to be cherished
• the new is nothing but a restatement of the old
• the only way to be pure is to stay by yourself
• the sum of your actions determines what you are
• the unattainable is invariable attractive
• the world operates according to discoverable laws
• there are too few immutable truths today
• there's nothing except what you sense
• there's nothing redeeming in toil
• thinking too much can only cause problems
• threatening someone sexually is a horrible act
• timidity is laughable
• to disagree presupposes moral integrity
• to volunteer is reactionary
• torture is barbaric
• trading a life for a life is fair enough

• true freedom is frightful
• unique things must be the most valuable
• unquestioning love demonstrates largesse of spirit
• using force to stop force is absurd
• violence is permissible even desirable occasionally
• war is a purification rite
• we must make sacrifices to maintain our quality of life
• when something terrible happens people wake up
• wishing things away is not effective
• with perseverance you can discover any truth
• words tend to be inadequate
• worrying can help you prepare
• you are a victim of the rules you live by
• you are guileless in your dreams
• you are responsible for constituting the meaning of things
• you are the past present and future
• you can live on through your descendants
• you can't expect people to be something they're not
• you can't fool others if you're fooling yourself
• you don't know what's what until you support yourself
• you have to hurt others to be extraordinary

• you must be intimate with a token few
• you must disagree with authority figures
• you must have one grand passion
• you must know where you stop and the world begins
• you can understand someone of your sex only
• you owe the world not the other way around
• you should study as much as possible
• your actions ae pointless if no one notices
• your oldest fears are the worst ones

What's Your Manifesto?