Conservatism is sometimes a symptom of sterility. Those who have nothing in them that can grow and develop must cling to what they have in beliefs, ideas and possessions. The sterile radical, too, is basically conservative. He is afraid to let go of the ideas and beliefs he picked up in his youth lest his life be seen as empty and wasted.
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General jackdaw culture, very little more than a collection of charming miscomprehensions, untargeted enthusiasms, and a general habit of skimming.
General jackdaw culture, very little more than a collection of charming miscomprehensions, untargeted enthusiasms, and a general habit of skimming.
[They say] "We do not know how this is, but we know that God can do it." You poor fools! read more
[They say] "We do not know how this is, but we know that God can do it." You poor fools! God can make a cow out of a tree, but has He ever done so? Therefore show some reason why a thing is so, or cease to hold that it is so.
There is no such thing as truth.
There is no such thing as truth.
Any society that needs disclaimers has too many lawyers.
Any society that needs disclaimers has too many lawyers.
Proselytizing is more a passionate search for something not yet found than a desire to bestow upon the world something read more
Proselytizing is more a passionate search for something not yet found than a desire to bestow upon the world something we already have. It is a search for a final and irrefutable demonstration that our absolute truth is indeed the one and only truth. The proselytizing fanatic strengthens his own faith by converting others.
American public education is a remarkable enterprise; it succeeds best where it fails. Imagine an industry that consistently fails to read more
American public education is a remarkable enterprise; it succeeds best where it fails. Imagine an industry that consistently fails to do what it sets out to do. a factory where this year's product is invariably sleazier than last year's but, nevertheless, better than next year's. Imagine a corporation whose executives are always spending vast sums of money on studies designed to discover just what it is they are supposed to do and then vaster sums for further studies on just how to do it. Imagine a plant devoted to the manufacture of factory seconds to be sold at a loss. Imagine a producer of vacuum cleaners that rarely work hiring whole platoons of engineers who will, in time, report that it is, in fact, true that the vacuum cleaners rarely really work, and who will, for a larger fee, be glad to find out why, if that's possible. If you discover some such outfit, don't invest in it. Unfortunately, we are all required to invest in public education.
If you pray hard enough, water will run uphill. How hard? Why, hard enough to make water run uphill, of read more
If you pray hard enough, water will run uphill. How hard? Why, hard enough to make water run uphill, of course!
Experience proves that those are oftenest abused who can be abused with the greatest impunity. Men are whipped oftenest who read more
Experience proves that those are oftenest abused who can be abused with the greatest impunity. Men are whipped oftenest who are whipped easiest.
I think I am better than the people who are trying to reform me.
I think I am better than the people who are trying to reform me.
