It is the acquisition of skills in particular, irrespective of their utility, that is potent in making life meaningful. Since man has no inborn skills, the survival of the species has depended on the ability to acquire and perfect skills. Hence the mastery of skills is a uniquely human activity and yields deep satisfaction.
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Any man who inflicts the human race with ideas must be prepared to see them misunderstood.
Any man who inflicts the human race with ideas must be prepared to see them misunderstood.
There is a guilty conscience behind every brazen word and act and behind every manifestation of self-righteousness.
There is a guilty conscience behind every brazen word and act and behind every manifestation of self-righteousness.
To ripen a person for self-sacrifice he must be stripped of his individual identity and distinctness. He must cease to read more
To ripen a person for self-sacrifice he must be stripped of his individual identity and distinctness. He must cease to be George, Hans, Ivan or Tadao- a human atom with an existence bounded by birth and death. The most drastic way to achieve this end is by complete assimilation of the individual into a collective body. The fully assimilated individual does not see himself and others as human beings. When asked who he is, his automatic response is that he is a German, a Russian, a Japanese, a Christian, a Moslem, a member of a certain tribe or family. He has no purpose, worth and destiny apart from his collective body; and as long as that body lives he cannot really die.
The Americans are poor haters in international affairs because of their innate feeling of superiority over all foreigners. An American's read more
The Americans are poor haters in international affairs because of their innate feeling of superiority over all foreigners. An American's hatred for a fellow American...is far more virulent than any antipathy he can work up against foreigners...Should Americans begin to hate foreigners wholeheartedly, it will be an indication that they have lost confidence in their own way of life.
Reason and action are congeneric and homogenous, two aspects of the same phenomenon.
Reason and action are congeneric and homogenous, two aspects of the same phenomenon.
It is highly significant, and indeed almost a rule, that moral courage has its source in identification through one's own read more
It is highly significant, and indeed almost a rule, that moral courage has its source in identification through one's own sensitivity with the suffering of one's fellow human beings.
Reading furnishes the mind only with materials for knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.
Reading furnishes the mind only with materials for knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.
Do not trust your memory; it is a net full of holes; the most beautiful prizes slip through it. - read more
Do not trust your memory; it is a net full of holes; the most beautiful prizes slip through it. - The Heart's Domain.
Add a few drops of malice to a half truth and you have an absolute truth.
Add a few drops of malice to a half truth and you have an absolute truth.
