Laughter to begin with was probably glee at the misfortunes of others. The baring of the teeth in laughter hints at its savage ancestry. Animals have no malice, hence also no laughter. They never savor the sudden glory of Schadenfreude. It was its infectious quality that made of laughter a medium of mutuality.
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The wise learn many things from their foes.
The wise learn many things from their foes.
All weakness tends to corrupt, and impotence corrupts absolutely.
All weakness tends to corrupt, and impotence corrupts absolutely.
It is the acquisition of skills in particular, irrespective of their utility, that is potent in making life meaningful. Since read more
It is the acquisition of skills in particular, irrespective of their utility, that is potent in making life meaningful. Since man has no inborn skills, the survival of the species has depended on the ability to acquire and perfect skills. Hence the mastery of skills is a uniquely human activity and yields deep satisfaction.
Being intelligent is not a felony. But most societies evaluate it as at least a misdemeanor.
Being intelligent is not a felony. But most societies evaluate it as at least a misdemeanor.
The monuments of wit survive the monuments of power.
The monuments of wit survive the monuments of power.
Language was invented to ask questions. Answers may be given by grunts and gestures, but questions must be spoken. Humanness read more
Language was invented to ask questions. Answers may be given by grunts and gestures, but questions must be spoken. Humanness came of age when man asked the first question. Social stagnation results not from a lack of answers but from the absence of the impulse to ask questions.
Every animal is sad after coitus except the human female and the rooster.
Every animal is sad after coitus except the human female and the rooster.
It is the worst of all superstitions to assume that the epistemological characteristics of one branch of knowledge must necessarily read more
It is the worst of all superstitions to assume that the epistemological characteristics of one branch of knowledge must necessarily be applicable to any other branch.
It is perhaps not entirely so, though it has often been said, that man makes his God in his own read more
It is perhaps not entirely so, though it has often been said, that man makes his God in his own image. Rather does he create Him in the image of his cravings and dreams- in the image of what man wants to be. God making could be part of the process by which a society realizes its aspirations: it first embodies them in the conception of a particular God, and then proceeds to imitate that God. The confidence requisite for attempting the unprecedented is most effectively generated by the fiction that in realizing the new we are imitating rather than originating. Our preoccupation with heaven can be part of an effort to find precedents for the unprecedented.
