Any young person who has studied Heidegger; or seen Ionesco's 'plays'; or listened to the 'music' of John Cage; or read more

Any young person who has studied Heidegger; or seen Ionesco's 'plays'; or listened to the 'music' of John Cage; or looked at Andy Warhol's 'paintings'- has experienced that feeling of incredulous puzzlement: But this is nonsense! Can I really be expected to take this seriously?In fact, of course, it is necessary for it to be nonsense; if it made sense, it could be evaluated. The essence of modern intellectual snobbery is the 'emperor's new cloths' approach. Teachers, critics, our self-appointed intellectual elite, make it quite clear to us that if we cannot see the superlative nature of this 'art'- why, it merely shows our ignorance, our lack of sophistication and insight. Of course, they go beyond the storybook emperor's tailors, who dressed their victim in nothing and called it fine garments. The modern tailors dress the emperor in garbage.

It seems, in fact, as though the second half of a man's life is made up of nothing, but the read more

It seems, in fact, as though the second half of a man's life is made up of nothing, but the habits he has accumulated during the first half.

You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.

You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.

Dogma does not mean the absence of thought, but the end of thought.

Dogma does not mean the absence of thought, but the end of thought.

I do not understand the capricious lewdness of the sleeping mind.

I do not understand the capricious lewdness of the sleeping mind.

When we can't dream any longer, we die.

When we can't dream any longer, we die.

Avoid making irrevocable decisions when tired or hungry.

Avoid making irrevocable decisions when tired or hungry.

Dreaming permits each and everyone of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives.

Dreaming permits each and everyone of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives.

The most basic inherent constraint is that neither time nor wisdom are free goods available in unlimited quantity. This means read more

The most basic inherent constraint is that neither time nor wisdom are free goods available in unlimited quantity. This means that in social processes, as in economic processes, it is not only impossible to attain perfection but irrational to seek perfection- or even to seek the "best possible" result in each separate instance.