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A K Coomaraswamy
And whereas in the greater part of modern art one cannot fail to recognize an exhibitionism in which the artist rather exploits himself than demonstrates a truth, and modern individualism frankly justifies this self-expression, the medieval artist is characteristically anonymous and of "unobtrusive demeanor" and it is not who speaks, but what is said that matters.
(Beauty and truth)
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Whereas it was once the highest purpose of life to achieve a freedom from oneself, it is now our will to secure the greatest possible measure of freedom for oneself, no matter from what.
(Is Art a superstition or a way of life)
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What was demanded of the traditional artist was first and foremost to be in possession of his art, that is to be in possession of a knowledge, rather than a sentiment.
(Is Art a superstition or a way of life)
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In a patriarchal social structure the ruling class does, in a certain sense, belong to the world of "fathers" and is thus separated from other classes by a distance that is almost epic.
M M Bakhtin (Epic & Novel)
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Aphorisms by Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
One is lost if one gets too much time to think about oneself, assuming that one doesn't consider oneself as an object of observation, like a specimen, but always as the sum of all that one is at the moment. We become aware of so many sad things that, on perceiving them, all desire to arrange or compare them fades away.
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If mankind suddenly becomes virtuous, many thousands would die of hunger.
(Notebook E)
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Since a man can go mad I do not see why a universal system cannot do so too ...
(Notebook J)
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I believe that the over-minute acquaintance with the history of science and learning, which is such a prevalent feature of our day, is very prejudicial to the advance of knowledge itself. There is pleasure in following up this history; but as a matter of fact, it leaves the mind, not empty indeed, but without any power of its own, just because it makes it so full. Whoever has felt the desire, not to fill up his mind, but to strengthen it, to develop his faculties and aptitudes, and generally, to enlarge his powers, will have found that there is nothing so weakening as intercourse with a so-called littérateur, on a matter of knowledge on which he has not thought at all, though he knows a thousand little facts appertaining to its history and literature. It is like reading a cookery-book when you are hungry. I believe that so-called literary history will never thrive amongst thoughtful people, who are conscious of their own worth and the worth of real knowledge. These people are more given to employing their own reason than to troubling themselves to know how others have employed theirs. The worst of it is that, as you will find, the more knowledge takes the direction of literary research, the less the power of promoting knowledge becomes; the only thing that increases is pride in the possession of it. Such persons believe that they possess knowledge in a greater degree than those who really possess it. It is surely a well-founded remark, that knowledge never makes its possessor proud. Those alone let themselves be blown out with pride, who incapable of extending knowledge in their own persons, occupy themselves with clearing up dark points in its history, or are able to recount what others have done. They are proud, because they consider this occupation, which is mostly of a mechanical nature, the practice of knowledge. I could illustrate what I mean by examples, but it would be an odious task.
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The artist or scholar or student in any discipline who is accustomed to comparing himself not with other people working in the same area but with
the pursuit itself, the more outstanding
he is, the lower the idea he will have of himself. This is because the greater
understanding he has of
the profundity of that art, the more inferior he will find himself by
comparison. So, it is that almost all great men are modest, because they
continually compare themselves not with others, but with that idea of perfection
which they have in their minds, infinitely clearer and greater
than that which the common herd has, and so they see how far they are from
achieving it. The common herd, on the contrary, and perhaps at times
with truth, can easily believe that they have, not only achieved, but surpassed
the idea of perfection which they have in their minds.
Giacomo Leopardi ('Thoughts')
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What we have inherited from our fathers and mothers is not all that `walks in us'. There are all sorts of dead ideas and lifeless old beliefs. They have no tangibility, but they haunt us all the same and we can not get rid of them. Whenever I take up a newspaper I seem to see Ghosts gliding between the lines. Ghosts must be all over the country. as thick as the sands of the sea.
Henrik Ibsen (Ghosts)
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Helmer: Nora, I'd gladly work night and day for you, and endure poverty and sorrow for your sake. But no man would sacrifice his honor for the one he loves.
Nora: Thousands of women have.
Ibsen (Act 3, A doll's house)
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"God asked me if I did find his universe to my liking and taste
When I said no, then he replied, create your own and lay this waste"
(Sheikh Mohammad Iqbal)
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"All comes out even at the end of the day. All comes out even more even when all the days are over." - Voltaire
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..... Yes, now's the moment; I'm looking at this thing on the mantelpiece, and I understand that I'm in hell. I tell you, everything's been thoughtout beforehand. They knew I'd stand at the fireplace stroking this thing of bronze, with all those eyes intent on me. Devouring me. What? Only two of you? I thought there were more; many more. So this is hell. I'd never have believed it. You remember all we were told about the torture-chambers, the fire and brimstone, the "burning marl." Old wives' tales! There's no need for red-hot pokers. Hell is--other people!
- Sartre (from the play 'No Exit')
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Quotes from Demian (by Hermann Hesse)
Only the ideas we actually live are of any value. p 52
--
Each of us has to find out for ourselves what is permitted and what is
forbidden--forbidden for him. It's possible for one never to transgress
a single
law and still be a bastard. And vice versa. Actually, it's only a
question of
convenience. Those who are too lazy and comfortable to think for
themselves and
be their own judges obey the rules. Others sense their own laws within
them;
things are forbidden in them that every honorable man will do in any
day of the
year, and other things are allowed to them that are generally despised.
Each
person must stand on his own feet. p 53
--
Gaze into the fire, into the clouds, and as soon as the inner voices
begin to
speak surrender to them, don't ask first whether it's permitted or
would please
your teachers or father, or some god. You will ruin yourself if you do
that. p
93
--
Live those dreams, play with them, build altars to them. It is not yet
the
ideal, but it points in the right direction. p 94
--
If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of
yourself. What
isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us. p 95 [This is now a common
statement-- another sign of how far ahead of his times Hesse was.]
--
The things we see are the same things that are within us. There is no
reality
except the one contained within us. That is why so many people live
such an
unreal life. They take the images outside them for reality and never
allow the
world within to assert itself. You can be happy that way. But once you
know the
other interpretation you no longer have the choice of following the
crowd.
Sinclair, the majority's path is an easy one, ours is difficult. p 96
--
I live in my dreams... Other people live in dreams, but not in their
own. That's
the difference. p 97
--
One never reaches home, but where paths that have an affinity for each
other
intersect the whole world looks like home, for a time." p 119
--
I belong to my fate and to no one else. p 120
some of his poems
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After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the
inexpressible is music.
Aldous Huxley
At least two-thirds of our miseries spring from human stupidity, human
malice and those great motivators and justifiers of malice and
stupidity: idealism, dogmatism and proselytizing zeal on behalf of
religious or political ideas.
Aldous Huxley
Knowledge can be communicated, but wisdom cannot. A man can find it, he
can live it, he can be filled and sustained by it, but he cannot utter
or teach it.
Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)
Some philosophical epigrams by Rabindranath Tagore.
Education is a wonderful thing, provided you always remember that nothing worth knowing can ever be taught. - Oscar Wilde
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