“Machiavelli, however, took his bearings from people as they are. He defined the political project as making the best of this flawed material. He knew (in words Kant would write almost three centuries later) that nothing straight would be made from the crooked timber of humanity.” PeopleWritingMadeWould BePoliticalHumanityThreeCenturyMaterialsProjectsDefinedFlawedCrookedTimber Author:George Will
“The classical argument for why a supposedly decent and moral creature like Homo sapiens can mistreat and even extirpate other species rests upon an extreme position in a continuum. The Cartesian tradition, formulated explicitly in the seventeenth century, but developed in "folk" and other versions throughout human history no doubt, holds that other animals are little more than unfeeling machines, with only humans enjoying "consciousness," however defined.” HumansLittlesEnjoyAnimalConsciousnessMoralDoubtCenturyPositionCreaturesArgumentTraditionMachinesSpeciesFolksExtremesVersionsDefinedDecentNo DoubtHuman HistoryHomo SapiensContinuumUnfeelingMistreat Author:Stephen Jay Gould
“[Good taste] is a nineteenth-century concept. And good taste has never really been defined. The effort of projecting 'good taste' is so studied that it offends me. No, I prefer to negate that. We have to put a period to so-called good taste.” EffortCenturyPeriodsTasteConceptsDefinedNineteenth CenturyGood Taste Author:Louise Berliawsky Nevelson
“In Paris style is everything. That is traditionally understood. Every street, every structure, every shopgirl has style. The style of Parisian architecture has been proved and refined by at least three centuries of academic dictates and highly developed taste. There are few violations of this taste, and there is exemplary architectural consistency. Paris has defined the aesthetics of a sophisticated urban culture.” Has BeensCultureThreeStreetsCenturyStyleTasteUnderstoodStructureArchitectureDefinedParisAcademicSophisticatedUrbanConsistencyAestheticsViolationRefinedExemplary Book:ARCHITECTURE, ANYONE? Source: ARCHITECTURE, ANYONE?
“Current conflicts and guilt about being a woman who is a mother and a person in her own right are a socially defined malaise, notan individual problem.... The conflict is not between being a mother and having a career; it is between nineteenth-century ideas about children and today's ideas about women.” ChildrenPersonsIdeasProblemTodayMotherIndividualWomenWorkCareersCenturyConflictGuiltCurrentsDefinedMen WomenBeing A WomanNineteenth CenturyBeing A MotherMalaise Author:Sandra Scarr
“I'd like to be remembered not only for my body of work but also for specific novels. Ideally, I want to be remembered in the same way as Stephen King, who defined and exemplified excellence in the horror genre in the late 20th and early 21st century.” WayWantBodyNovelCenturyKingsHorrorLateExcellenceDefinedGenreRemembered21st CenturyHorror Genre Author:Nicholas Sparks