We must think of human progress, not as of something going on in the race in general, but as something going on in a small minority, perpetually beleaguered in a few walled towns. Now and then the horde of barbarians outside breaks through, and we have an armed effort to halt the process. That is, we have a Reformation, a French Revolution, a war for democracy, a Great Awakening. The minority is decimated and driven to cover. But a few survive- and a few are enough to carry on.
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The meaning of life is not to be discovered only after death in some hidden, mysterious realm; on the contrary, read more
The meaning of life is not to be discovered only after death in some hidden, mysterious realm; on the contrary, it can be found by eating the succulent fruit of the Tree of Life and by living in the here and now as fully and creatively as we can.
None save great men have been the authors of great heresies.
None save great men have been the authors of great heresies.
Where intellectuals have played a role in history, it has not been so much by whispering words of advice into read more
Where intellectuals have played a role in history, it has not been so much by whispering words of advice into the ears of political overlords as by contributing to the vast and powerful currents of conceptions and misconceptions that sweep human action along.
Words have ruined more souls than any devil's agency.
Words have ruined more souls than any devil's agency.
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.
The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970s and 1980s hundreds of millions of people will read more
The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970s and 1980s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death...
All rising to great place is by winding stair.
All rising to great place is by winding stair.
All of us necessarily hold many casual opinions that are ludicrously wrong simply because life is far too short for read more
All of us necessarily hold many casual opinions that are ludicrously wrong simply because life is far too short for us to think through even a small fraction of the topics that we come across.
Every man is like the company he is wont to keep.
Every man is like the company he is wont to keep.
