The presence of a body of well-instructed men, who have not to labor for their daily bread, is important to a degree which cannot be overestimated; as all high intellectual work is carried on by them, and on such work material progress of all kinds mainly depends, not to mention other and higher advantages.
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Civilization is unbearable, but it is less unbearable at the top.
Civilization is unbearable, but it is less unbearable at the top.
Rejoicing not in the many but in the probity of the few, we toil for truth alone.
Rejoicing not in the many but in the probity of the few, we toil for truth alone.
Without an element of the obscene there can be no true and deep aesthetic or moral conception of life...It is read more
Without an element of the obscene there can be no true and deep aesthetic or moral conception of life...It is only the great men who are truly obscene. If they had not dared to be obscene they could never have dared to be great.
When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous read more
When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.
The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man's foot long enough read more
The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man's foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher. - Life and Letters of Thomas Huxley.
Conceal a flaw, and the world will imagine the worst.
Conceal a flaw, and the world will imagine the worst.
The difference between a professional person and a technician is that a technician knows everything about his job except its read more
The difference between a professional person and a technician is that a technician knows everything about his job except its ultimate purpose and his place in the scheme of things.
American public education is a remarkable enterprise; it succeeds best where it fails. Imagine an industry that consistently fails to read more
American public education is a remarkable enterprise; it succeeds best where it fails. Imagine an industry that consistently fails to do what it sets out to do. a factory where this year's product is invariably sleazier than last year's but, nevertheless, better than next year's. Imagine a corporation whose executives are always spending vast sums of money on studies designed to discover just what it is they are supposed to do and then vaster sums for further studies on just how to do it. Imagine a plant devoted to the manufacture of factory seconds to be sold at a loss. Imagine a producer of vacuum cleaners that rarely work hiring whole platoons of engineers who will, in time, report that it is, in fact, true that the vacuum cleaners rarely really work, and who will, for a larger fee, be glad to find out why, if that's possible. If you discover some such outfit, don't invest in it. Unfortunately, we are all required to invest in public education.
Society is like a large piece of frozen water; and skating well
is the great art of social life.
Society is like a large piece of frozen water; and skating well
is the great art of social life.
