When we find a thinker reflecting or echoing an apparently erroneous, narrow, or even illogical thought that was popular or authoritative in his time, we must never rule out the possibility that what we have discovered is not the limit of his vision but only an example of his deliberate rhetorical accommodation to reigning prejudice which he does not share but thinks it best not to expose.
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The compulsion to take ourselves seriously is in inverse proportion to our creative capacity. When the creative flow dries up, read more
The compulsion to take ourselves seriously is in inverse proportion to our creative capacity. When the creative flow dries up, all we have left is our importance.
Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo.
Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo.
No child is born with a really cold heart, and it is only in proportion as we lose that youthful read more
No child is born with a really cold heart, and it is only in proportion as we lose that youthful heart that we lose the inner warmth in ourselves.
Don't be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality. If you can dream it, you can make it read more
Don't be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality. If you can dream it, you can make it so.
Our minds can work for us or against us at any given moment. We can learn to accept and live read more
Our minds can work for us or against us at any given moment. We can learn to accept and live with the natural psychological laws that govern us, understanding how to flow with life rather than struggle against it. We can return to our natural state of contentment.
To stay young requires unceasing cultivation of the ability to unlearn old falsehoods.
To stay young requires unceasing cultivation of the ability to unlearn old falsehoods.
It may indeed prove to be far the most difficult and not the least important task for human reason rationally read more
It may indeed prove to be far the most difficult and not the least important task for human reason rationally to comprehend its own limitations. It is essential for the growth of reason that as individuals we should bow to forces and obey principles which we cannot hope fully to understand, yet on which the advance and even the preservation of civilization depend.
The weak are not a noble breed. Their sublime deeds of faith, daring, and self-sacrifice usually spring from questionable motives. read more
The weak are not a noble breed. Their sublime deeds of faith, daring, and self-sacrifice usually spring from questionable motives. The weak hate not wickedness but weakness; and one instance of their hatred of weakness is hatred of self. All the passionate pursuits of the weak are in some degree a striving to escape, blur, or disguise an unwanted self. It is a striving shot through with malice, envy, self-deception, and a host of petty impulses; yet it often culminates in superb achievements.
Animals can learn, but it is not by learning that they become dogs, cats, or horses. Only man has to read more
Animals can learn, but it is not by learning that they become dogs, cats, or horses. Only man has to learn to become what he is supposed to be.
