“... we engage in politics because we don't know anything. This is clearly revealed in the way we go about it. Our parties exist from a fear of theory. The voter fears that one idea can always be contradicted by another. Therefore the parties reciprocally defend themselves against the few old ideas they have inherited. They don't live from what they promise, but from frustrating the promises of others. This is their silent community of interests.” KnowsWayIdeasPoliticsInterestCommunityPartyTheoryPromiseSilentVotersFrustratingOld Ideas Author:Robert Musil
“An impractical man--which he not only seems to be, but really is--will always be unreliable and unpredictable in his dealings with others. He will engage in actions that mean something else to him than to others, but he is at peace with himself about everything as long as he can make it all come together in a fine idea.” MenMeanLongIdeasSeemsActionTogetherFineUnpredictableUnreliableDealings Book:The Man Without Qualities: Picador Classic Source: The Man Without Qualities: Picador Classic
“There is, in short, no great idea that stupidity could not put to its own uses [....] The truth by comparison, has only one appearance and only one path, and is always at a disadvantage.” IdeasUsePathAppearanceStupidityComparisonGreat IdeaDisadvantages Book:The Man Without Qualities: Picador Classic Source: The Man Without Qualities: Picador Classic
“It will always be the same possibilities, in sum or on the average, that go on repeating themselves until a man comes along who does not value the actuality above idea. It is he who first gives the new possibilities their meaning, their direction, and he awakens them.” MenGivingFirstsDoeIdeasValuesPossibilityGoes OnAverageActualityNew Possibilities Book:The Man Without Qualities: Picador Classic Source: The Man Without Qualities: Picador Classic
