Charles Simić

Simić (2015)

Dušan "Charles" Simić (Serbian: Душан "Чарлс" Симић; May 9, 1938 – January 9, 2023) was a Serbian-American poet.

Quotes

• Widespread ignorance bordering on idiocy is our new national goal. ... The ideal citizen of a politically corrupt state, such as the one we now have, is a gullible dolt unable to tell truth from bullshit. An educated, well-informed population, the kind that a functioning democracy requires, would be difficult to lie to, and could not be led by the nose by the various vested interests running amok in this country.
  • "Age of Ignorance" New York Review of Books, March 20, 2012

• It’s never been such a good time to be a crook. In what other country of laws does one enjoy so much freedom to defraud one’s government and fellow citizens without having to worry about cops showing at the door? Small-time crooks sooner or later end up in the slammer, but our big-time con artists, as we’ve come to learn, are now regarded as the untouchables, too well-heeled and powerful to lock up.
  • "A Thieves' Thanksgiving," New York Review of Books, November 26, 2014

• Should some senator or congressman have a sudden attack of conscience and blurt something out, “dark money” brings them to their senses and reminds them that their job is to facilitate the transfer of public funds into the pockets of the few and to not ask too many questions.
  • "A Thieves' Thanksgiving," New York Review of Books, November 26, 2014