The De-eroticization Of The World, A Companion

There Are Two Threats To Reason, The Opinion That One Knows The Truth About The Most Important Things And The Opinion That There Is No Truth About Them. Both Of These Opinions Are Fatal To Philosophy; The First Asserts That The Quest For Truth Is Unnecessary, While The Second Asserts That It Is Impossible. The Socratic Knowledge Of Ignorance, Which I Take To Be The Beginning Point Of All Philosophy, Defines The Sensible Middle Ground Between Two Extremes.

A New Language Always Reflects A New Point Of View, And The Gradual Unconscious Popularization Of New Words, Or Of Old Words Used In New Ways, Is A Sure Sign Of A Profound Change In People's Articulation Of The World.

Students Now Arrive At The University Ignorant And Cynical About Our Political Heritage, Lacking The Wherewithal To Be Either Inspired By It Or Seriously Critical Of It.

As Western Nations Became More Prosperous, Leisure, Which Had Been Put Off For Several Centuries In Favor Of The Pursuit Of Property, The Means To Leisure, Finally Began To Be Of Primary Concern. But, In The Meantime, Any Notion Of The Serious Life Of Leisure, As Well As Men's Taste And Capacity To Live It, Had Disappeared.

The Failure To Read Good Books Both Enfeebles The Vision And Strengthens Our Most Fatal Tendency - The Belief That The Here And Now Is All There Is.