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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Unlike the pattern which seems to prevail in the rest of life, in the human species the weak not only read more
Unlike the pattern which seems to prevail in the rest of life, in the human species the weak not only survive but often triumph over the strong. The self-hatred inherent in the weak unlocks energies far more formidable then those mobilized by an ordinary struggle for existence.
When watching men of power in action it must be always kept in mind that, whether they know it or read more
When watching men of power in action it must be always kept in mind that, whether they know it or not, their main purpose is the elimination or neutralization of the independent individual- the independent voter, consumer, worker, owner, thinker- and that every device they employ aims at turning men into a manipulable "animated instrument" which is Aristotle's definition of a slave.
...the more original a discovery the more obvious it seems afterwards.
...the more original a discovery the more obvious it seems afterwards.
A mind that is fast is sick. A mind that is slow is sound. A mind that is still is read more
A mind that is fast is sick. A mind that is slow is sound. A mind that is still is divine.
The Americans are poor haters in international affairs because of their innate feeling of superiority over all foreigners. An American's read more
The Americans are poor haters in international affairs because of their innate feeling of superiority over all foreigners. An American's hatred for a fellow American...is far more virulent than any antipathy he can work up against foreigners...Should Americans begin to hate foreigners wholeheartedly, it will be an indication that they have lost confidence in their own way of life.
Habits are to the soul what the veins and arteries are to the blood, the courses in which it moves.
Habits are to the soul what the veins and arteries are to the blood, the courses in which it moves.
It is the fate of every great achievement to be pounced upon by pedants and imitators who drain it of read more
It is the fate of every great achievement to be pounced upon by pedants and imitators who drain it of life and turn it into an orthodoxy which stifles all stirrings of originality.
A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.
A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.
Education rears disciples, imitators, and routinists, not pioneers of new ideas and creative geniuses. The schools are not nurseries of read more
Education rears disciples, imitators, and routinists, not pioneers of new ideas and creative geniuses. The schools are not nurseries of progress and improvement, but conservatories of tradition and unvarying modes of thought.
