There are in fact four very different stumbling blocks in the way of grasping the truth, which hinder every man however learned, and scarcely allow anyone to win a clear title to wisdom, namely, the example of weak and unworthy authority, longstanding custom, the feeling of the ignorant crowd, and the hiding of our own ignorance while making a display of our apparent knowledge.
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Certes, they been lye to hounds, for an hound when he cometh by the roses, or by other bushes, though read more
Certes, they been lye to hounds, for an hound when he cometh by the roses, or by other bushes, though he may nat pisse, yet wole he heve up his leg and make a countenance to pisse.
We cannot hate those who we despise.
We cannot hate those who we despise.
The envious only hate the excellence they cannot reach.
The envious only hate the excellence they cannot reach.
Science itself, therefore, may be regarded as a minimal problem, consisting of the completest possible presentment of facts with the read more
Science itself, therefore, may be regarded as a minimal problem, consisting of the completest possible presentment of facts with the least possible expenditure of thought.
Knowledge can be enormously costly, and is often scattered in widely uneven fragments, too small to be individually usable in read more
Knowledge can be enormously costly, and is often scattered in widely uneven fragments, too small to be individually usable in decision making. The communication and coordination of these scattered fragments of knowledge is one of the basic problems- perhaps the basic problem- of any society.
The rational individualist is not the enemy of benevolence or civility, but their truest exemplar.
The rational individualist is not the enemy of benevolence or civility, but their truest exemplar.
Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.
Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.
Men never do evil so fully and so happily as when they do it for conscience's sake.
Men never do evil so fully and so happily as when they do it for conscience's sake.
The burning conviction that we have a holy duty towards others is often a way of attaching our drowning selves read more
The burning conviction that we have a holy duty towards others is often a way of attaching our drowning selves to a passing raft. What looks like a giving hand is often a holding on for dear life. Take away our holy duties and you leave our lives puny and meaningless. There is no doubt that in exchanging a self-centered for a selfless life we gain enormously in self-esteem. The vanity of the selfless, even those who practice utmost humility, is boundless.
