A doctrine insulates the devout not only against the realities around them but also against their own selves. The fanatical read more

A doctrine insulates the devout not only against the realities around them but also against their own selves. The fanatical believer is not conscious of his envy, malice, pettiness and dishonesty. There is a wall of words between his consciousness and his real self.

Conservatism is sometimes a symptom of sterility. Those who have nothing in them that can grow and develop must cling read more

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.

The poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.

The poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.

The smashing of idols is in itself such a preoccupation that it is almost impossible for the iconoclast to look read more

The smashing of idols is in itself such a preoccupation that it is almost impossible for the iconoclast to look clearly into a future when there will not be many idols left to smash.

You can only cure retail but you can prevent wholesale.

You can only cure retail but you can prevent wholesale.

...one of the tests of a theory is that, once grasped, it appears self-evident.

...one of the tests of a theory is that, once grasped, it appears self-evident.

Cultures contain many cues and inducements to dissuade the individual from approaching ultimate limits, in much the same way that read more

Cultures contain many cues and inducements to dissuade the individual from approaching ultimate limits, in much the same way that a special warning strip of land around the edge of a baseball field lets a player know that he is about to run into a concrete wall when he is preoccupied with catching the ball. The wider that strip of land and the more sensitive the player is to the changing composition of the ground under his feet as he pursues the ball, the more effective the warning. Romanticizing or lionizing as "individualistic" those people who disregard social cues and inducements increases the danger of head-on collisions with inherent social limits. Decrying various forms of social disapproval is in effect narrowing the warning strip.

Adversity is the first path to truth. - Don Juan.

Adversity is the first path to truth. - Don Juan.

The criterion of truth is that it works even if nobody is prepared to acknowledge it.

The criterion of truth is that it works even if nobody is prepared to acknowledge it.