A rising mass movement attracts and holds a following not by its doctrine and promises but by the refuge it offers from the anxieties, barrenness and meaningless of an individual existence. It cures the poignantly frustrated not by conferring upon them an absolute truth or by remedying the difficulties and abuses which made their lives miserable, but by freeing them from their ineffectual selves- and it does this by enfolding and absorbing them into a closely knit and exultant corporate whole.
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The process of evolution may be described as differentiation of structure and integration of function. The more differentiated and specialized read more
The process of evolution may be described as differentiation of structure and integration of function. The more differentiated and specialized the parts, the more elaborate co-ordination is needed to create a well-balanced whole. The ultimate criterion of the value of a functional whole is the degree of its internal harmony or integratedness, whether the "functional whole" is a biological species or a civilization or an individual. A whole is defined by the pattern of relations between its parts, not by the sum of its parts; and a civilization is not defined by the sum of its science, technology, art and social organization, but by the total pattern which they form, and the degree of harmonious integration in that pattern.
Modern man lives isolated in his artificial environment, not because the artificial is evil as such, but because of his read more
Modern man lives isolated in his artificial environment, not because the artificial is evil as such, but because of his lack of comprehension of the forces which make it work- of the principles which relate his gadgets to the forces of nature, to the universal order. It is not central heating which makes his existence 'unnatural,' but his refusal to take an interest in the principles behind it. By being entirely dependent on science, yet closing his mind to it, he leads the life of an urban barbarian.
Irrationally held truths may be more harmful than reasoned errors.
Irrationally held truths may be more harmful than reasoned errors.
Those families, you know, are our upper crust, not upper ten
thousand.
Those families, you know, are our upper crust, not upper ten
thousand.
This strange disease of modern life, with its sick hurry, its divided aims.
This strange disease of modern life, with its sick hurry, its divided aims.
Mathematics is as little a science as grammar is a language.
Mathematics is as little a science as grammar is a language.
...in the shaping of a life, chance and the ability to respond to chance are everything.
...in the shaping of a life, chance and the ability to respond to chance are everything.
Society knows perfectly well how to kill a man and has methods more subtle than death
Society knows perfectly well how to kill a man and has methods more subtle than death
