A THREAD on timeless ideas by Will Durant:
1/
Every science begins as philosophy and ends as art; it arises in hypothesis and flows into achievement.
1/
Every science begins as philosophy and ends as art; it arises in hypothesis and flows into achievement.
2/
There is no real philosophy until the mind turns round and examines itself.
There is no real philosophy until the mind turns round and examines itself.
3/
Men are not content with a simple life: they are acquisitive, ambitious, competitive and jealous; they soon tire of what they have, and pine for what they have not; and they seldom desire anything unless it belongs to others.
Men are not content with a simple life: they are acquisitive, ambitious, competitive and jealous; they soon tire of what they have, and pine for what they have not; and they seldom desire anything unless it belongs to others.
4/
The trouble with most people is that they think with their hopes or fears or wishes rather than with their minds.
The trouble with most people is that they think with their hopes or fears or wishes rather than with their minds.
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History is an excellent teacher with few pupils.
History is an excellent teacher with few pupils.
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The fear of capitalism has compelled socialism to widen freedom, and the fear of socialism has compelled capitalism to increase equality. East is West and West is East, and soon the twain will meet.
The fear of capitalism has compelled socialism to widen freedom, and the fear of socialism has compelled capitalism to increase equality. East is West and West is East, and soon the twain will meet.
7/
You can't fool all the people all the time, but you can fool enough of them to rule a large country.
You can't fool all the people all the time, but you can fool enough of them to rule a large country.
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History reports that the men who can manage men manage the men who can manage only things, and the men who can manage money manage all.
History reports that the men who can manage men manage the men who can manage only things, and the men who can manage money manage all.
9/
And last are the few whose delight is in meditation and understanding; who yearn not for goods, nor for victory, but for knowledge; who leave both market and battlefield to lose themselves in the quiet clarity of secluded thought; whose...
And last are the few whose delight is in meditation and understanding; who yearn not for goods, nor for victory, but for knowledge; who leave both market and battlefield to lose themselves in the quiet clarity of secluded thought; whose...
...will is a light rather than a fire, whose haven is not power but truth: these are the men of wisdom, who stand aside unused by the world.
10/
All that is good in our history is gathered in libraries. At this moment, Plato is down there at the library waiting for us. So is Aristotle. Spinoza is there and so is Kats. Shelly and Byron and Sam Johnson are there waiting to tell us their magnificent stories. All you...
All that is good in our history is gathered in libraries. At this moment, Plato is down there at the library waiting for us. So is Aristotle. Spinoza is there and so is Kats. Shelly and Byron and Sam Johnson are there waiting to tell us their magnificent stories. All you...
...have to do it walk in the library door and the great company open their arms to you.
They are so happy to see you that they come out with you into the street and to your home.
And they do what hardly any friend will - they are silent when you wish to think.
They are so happy to see you that they come out with you into the street and to your home.
And they do what hardly any friend will - they are silent when you wish to think.
11/
The only real revolution is in the enlightenment of the mind and the improvement of character, the only real emancipation is individual, and the only real revolutionists are philosophers and saints.
The only real revolution is in the enlightenment of the mind and the improvement of character, the only real emancipation is individual, and the only real revolutionists are philosophers and saints.
12/
If there is any intelligence guiding this universe, philosophy wishes to know and understand it and reverently work with it; if there is none, philosophy wishes to know that also, and face it without fear.
If there is any intelligence guiding this universe, philosophy wishes to know and understand it and reverently work with it; if there is none, philosophy wishes to know that also, and face it without fear.
13/
The greatest question of our time is not communism vs individualism, not Europe vs America, not even the East vs the West; it is whether men can bear to live without God.
The greatest question of our time is not communism vs individualism, not Europe vs America, not even the East vs the West; it is whether men can bear to live without God.
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Those who have suffered much become very bitter or very gentle.
Those who have suffered much become very bitter or very gentle.
15/
Sixty years ago I knew everything; now I know nothing; education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.
Sixty years ago I knew everything; now I know nothing; education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.
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