Every man is like the company he is wont to keep.

Every man is like the company he is wont to keep.

All that is human must retrograde if it does not advance.

All that is human must retrograde if it does not advance.

Historical knowledge is indispensable for those who want to build a better world.

Historical knowledge is indispensable for those who want to build a better world.

...the cosmology of a given age is not the result of unilinear, "scientific" development, but rather the most striking, imaginative read more

...the cosmology of a given age is not the result of unilinear, "scientific" development, but rather the most striking, imaginative symbol of its mentality- the projection of its conflicts, prejudice and specific ways of double-think onto the graceful sky.

People who have time on their hands will inevitably waste the time of people who have work to do.

People who have time on their hands will inevitably waste the time of people who have work to do.

Irrationally held truths may be more harmful than reasoned errors.

Irrationally held truths may be more harmful than reasoned errors.

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.

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.

...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.