Society which scorns excellence in plumbing because it’s a humble activity, and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity, will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy.
Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.
~ John W. Gardner,
Society which scorns excellence in plumbing because it’s a humble activity, and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity, will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water. ~ John W. Gardner,
philosopher Costica Bradatan illustrates the point by means of a fable about an architect from Shiraz in Persia who designed the world’s most beautiful mosque: a breathtaking structure, dazzlingly original yet classically well proportioned, awe-inspiring in its grandeur yet wholly unpretentious.7 All those who saw the architectural plans wanted to
... See moreOliver Burkeman • Four Thousand Weeks: Embrace your limits. Change your life. Make your four thousand weeks count.
Philosophy is nowadays discredited, but yet it was always the chiefest concern of the wise.
Baltasar Gracian • The Art of Worldly Wisdom (Unabridged Start Publishing LLC)
All this is only preliminary. I want to say, in all seriousness, that a great deal of harm is being done in the modern world by the belief in the virtuousness of work, and that the road to happiness and prosperity lies in an organized diminution of work.
Bertrand Russell • In Praise of Idleness
“Knowledge is power,” wrote Francis Bacon. But Bacon’s vast knowledge did not keep him from taking bribes and falling into disgrace. Clearly, Bacon’s knowledge did not have the power to save him from himself.[a.] What Bacon overlooked, we now make explicit: Knowledge is useful in the service of an appropriate Model of the Universe[b.] , and not oth
... See more