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Isaiah Berlin

Isaiah Berlin Quotes

Philosopher

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Famous Isaiah Berlin Quotes

“Conformities are called for much more eagerly today than yesterday... skeptics, liberals, individuals with a taste for private life and their own inner standards of behavior, are objects of fear and derision and targets of persecution for either side... in the great ideological wars of our time.”

WarTodayIndividualSidesObjectsTasteBehaviorStandardsYesterdayTyrannyOur TimeTargetConformityTyrantsPersecutionPrivate LifeIdeologicalSkepticDerision
Author:Isaiah Berlin
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“If, as I believe, the ends of men are many, and not all of them are in principle compatible with each other, then the possibility of conflict - and of tragedy - can never wholly be eliminated from human life, either personal or social. The necessity of choosing between absolute claims is then an inescapable characteristic of the human condition. This gives its value to freedom as Acton conceived of it - as an end in itself, and not as a temporary need, arising out of our confused notions and irrational and disordered lives, a predicament which a panacea could one day put right.”

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Author:Isaiah Berlin
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“The very desire for guarantees that our values are eternal and secure in some objective heaven is perhaps only a craving for the certainties of childhood or the absolute values of our primitive past.”

PastDesireValuesHeavenChildhoodEternalAbsolutesObjectivesSecureCertaintyGuaranteesPrimitiveCravingGuarantees That
Book:Political Ideas in the Romantic Age: Their Rise and Influence on Modern Thought
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