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.

The only meaning of life worth caring about is one that can withstand our best efforts to examine it.

The only meaning of life worth caring about is one that can withstand our best efforts to examine it.

All rising to great place is by winding stair.

All rising to great place is by winding stair.

...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.

The world always makes the assumption that the exposure of an error is identical with the discovery of truth--that the read more

The world always makes the assumption that the exposure of an error is identical with the discovery of truth--that the error and truth are simply opposite. They are nothing of the sort. What the world turns to, when it is cured on one error, is usually simply another error, and maybe one worse than the first one.

A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes read more

A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes his mind off his own meaningless affairs by minding other people's business.This minding of other people's business expresses itself in gossip, snooping and meddling, and also in feverish interest in communal, national and racial affairs. In running away from ourselves we either fall on our neighbor's shoulder or fly at his throat.

Literacy is not, as it is considered in our schools, a PORTION of education. It IS education. It is at read more

Literacy is not, as it is considered in our schools, a PORTION of education. It IS education. It is at once the ability AND the inclination of the mind to find knowledge, to pursue understanding, and out of knowledge and understanding, not out of received attitudes and values or emotional responses, however "worthy," to make judgments.

We are but a drop of water in a pool filled with diversity.

We are but a drop of water in a pool filled with diversity.

You can find your way across this country using burger joints the way a navigator uses stars.

You can find your way across this country using burger joints the way a navigator uses stars.