There are in fact four very different stumbling blocks in the way of grasping the truth, which hinder every man however learned, and scarcely allow anyone to win a clear title to wisdom, namely, the example of weak and unworthy authority, longstanding custom, the feeling of the ignorant crowd, and the hiding of our own ignorance while making a display of our apparent knowledge.
You May Also Like / View all maxioms
...the evils of mankind are caused, not by the primary aggressiveness of individuals, but by their self-transcending identification with groups read more
...the evils of mankind are caused, not by the primary aggressiveness of individuals, but by their self-transcending identification with groups whose common denominator is low intelligence and high emotionality.
A great man is he who has not lost the heart of a child.
A great man is he who has not lost the heart of a child.
...ideas have a tendency to live lives of their own, and having become a part of tradition, they are very read more
...ideas have a tendency to live lives of their own, and having become a part of tradition, they are very difficult to root out. When summarized in a few neat words or phrases, these gems of wisdom become substitutes for thought, and gradually take on much of the status of revealed truth. Occasionally, some iconoclast sees fit to challenge one of them, and a brief flurry ensues, after which things go on about as before. It is easy to think of plenty of ideas that are passing, if they have not already passed, beyond the stage of effective discussion.
Let us face ourselves bravely as we are. For only a philosophy that recognizes reality can lead us into true read more
Let us face ourselves bravely as we are. For only a philosophy that recognizes reality can lead us into true happiness, and only that kind of philosophy is sound and healthy.
Sin makes its own hell, and goodness its own heaven.
Sin makes its own hell, and goodness its own heaven.
Reality is wrong. Dreams are for real.
Reality is wrong. Dreams are for real.
We cannot hate those who we despise.
We cannot hate those who we despise.
The first thing a man will do for his ideals is lie.
The first thing a man will do for his ideals is lie.
...the conviction persists - though history has shown it to be a hallucination - that all the questions that the read more
...the conviction persists - though history has shown it to be a hallucination - that all the questions that the human mind has asked are questions that can be answered in terms of the alternatives that the questions themselves present. But in fact intellectual progress usually occurs through sheer abandonment of questions together with both of the alternatives they assume - an abandonment that results from their decreasing vitality and change of urgent interest. We do not solve them: we get over them. Old questions are solved by disappearing, evaporating, while new questions corresponding to the changed attitude of endeavor and preference take their place.
