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    The process of evolution may be described as differentiation of structure and integration of function. The more differentiated and specialized the parts, the more elaborate co-ordination is needed to create a well-balanced whole. The ultimate criterion of the value of a functional whole is the degree of its internal harmony or integratedness, whether the "functional whole" is a biological species or a civilization or an individual. A whole is defined by the pattern of relations between its parts, not by the sum of its parts; and a civilization is not defined by the sum of its science, technology, art and social organization, but by the total pattern which they form, and the degree of harmonious integration in that pattern.

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  14  /  24  

A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at read more

A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.

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  11  /  11  

The biggest mischief in the past century has been perpetrated by Rousseau with his doctrine of the goodness of human read more

The biggest mischief in the past century has been perpetrated by Rousseau with his doctrine of the goodness of human nature. The mob and the intellectuals derived from it the vision of a Golden Age which would arrive without fail once the noble human race could act according to its whims.

by Jakob Burckhardt Found in: Society Quotes,
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  12  /  19  

The pen is the tongue of the mind.

The pen is the tongue of the mind.

by Cervantes Found in: Society Quotes,
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  5  /  12  

The Don Quixote of one generation may live to hear himself called
the savior of society by the next.

The Don Quixote of one generation may live to hear himself called
the savior of society by the next.

by James Russell Lowell Found in: Society Quotes,
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  6  /  13  

The best way I know to win an argument is to start by being in the right.

The best way I know to win an argument is to start by being in the right.

by Lord Hailshan Found in: Society Quotes,
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  8  /  10  

...in the shaping of a life, chance and the ability to respond to chance are everything.

...in the shaping of a life, chance and the ability to respond to chance are everything.

by Eric Hoffer Found in: Society Quotes,
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  12  /  5  

Progress cannot be organized.

Progress cannot be organized.

by Ludwig Von Mises Found in: Society Quotes,
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  25  /  19  

Mutation is random; natural selection is the very opposite of random.

Mutation is random; natural selection is the very opposite of random.

by Richard Dawkins Found in: Society Quotes,
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  10  /  13  

The bourgeoisie and the petty bourgeoisie have armed themselves against the rising proletariat with, among other things, "culture." It's an read more

The bourgeoisie and the petty bourgeoisie have armed themselves against the rising proletariat with, among other things, "culture." It's an old ploy of the bourgeoisie. They keep a standing "art" to defend their collapsing culture.

by George Grosz Found in: Society Quotes,
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