The thoughts of Plato and Machiavelli... don't seem quite enough armor for a world beset with splitting the atoms, urban guerrillas, nineteen varieties of psychotherapists, amplified guitars, napalm, computers, astronauts, and an atmosphere polluted simultaneously with auto exhaust and TV commercials.
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Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but read more
Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.
No amount of artificial reinforcement can offset the natural inequalities of human individuals.
No amount of artificial reinforcement can offset the natural inequalities of human individuals.
What the intellectual craves above all else is to be taken seriously, to be treated as a decisive force in read more
What the intellectual craves above all else is to be taken seriously, to be treated as a decisive force in shaping history. He is far more at home in a society that weighs his every word and keeps close watch on his attitudes then in a society that cares not what he says or does. He would rather be persecuted than ignored.
Custom, that unwritten law, By which the people keep even kings in awe.
Custom, that unwritten law, By which the people keep even kings in awe.
But the development of human society does not go straight forward; and the epic process will therefore be a recurring read more
But the development of human society does not go straight forward; and the epic process will therefore be a recurring process, the series a recurring series - though not in exact repetition .
It is a perplexing and unpleasant truth that when men already have "something worth fighting for," they do not feel read more
It is a perplexing and unpleasant truth that when men already have "something worth fighting for," they do not feel like fighting.
If there is no struggle there is no progress.
If there is no struggle there is no progress.
If a donkey bray at you, don't bray at him.
If a donkey bray at you, don't bray at him.
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.
