“The characteristic feature of the loser is to bemoan, in general terms, mankind's flaws, biases, contradictions, and irrationality - without exploiting them for fun and profit” FunTermMankindProfitFeaturesCharacteristicsContradictionFlawsLoserIrrationality Book:The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms Source: The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms
“We can most safely achieve truly universal tolerance when we respect that which is characteristic in the individual and in nations, clinging, though, to the conviction that the truly meritorious is unique by belonging to all of mankind.” IndividualNationsAchieveMankindUniqueUniversalConvictionToleranceCharacteristicsBelongingClinging Author:Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“There is one characteristic of the present direction of public opinion, peculiarly calculated to make it intolerant of any marked demonstration of individuality. The general average of mankind are not only moderate in intellect, but also moderate in inclinations: they have no tastes or wishes strong enough to incline them to do anything unusual, and they consequently do not understand those who have, and class all such with the wild and intemperate whom they are accustomed to look down upon.” LooksEnoughStrongWishOpinionClassMankindTasteAverageIndividualityIntellectCharacteristicsUnusualAccustomedInclinationPublic OpinionModeratesStrong EnoughDemonstrationIncline Book:J. S. Mill: 'On Liberty' and Other Writings Source: J. S. Mill: 'On Liberty' and Other Writings
“The power of understanding symbols, i.e. of regarding everything about a sense-datum as irrelevant except a certain form that it embodies, is the most characteristic mental trait of mankind. It issues in an unconscious, spontaneous process of abstraction, which goes on all the time in the human mind: a process of recognizing the concept in any configuration given to experience, and forming a conception accordingly. That is the real sense of Aristotle's definition of Man as "the rational animal".” MenMindHumansRealFormCertainGivenProcessUnderstandingAnimalIssuesMankindGoes OnConceptsDefinitionsRationalSymbolsDataCharacteristicsUnconsciousHuman MindConceptionTraitsSpontaneousIrrelevantAbstractionRecognizingConfiguration Author:Susanne Katherina Langer
“I think provincialism is an endemic characteristic with mankind, I think everybody everywhere is provincial, but it is particularly striking with Texans, and we tend to be very Texcentric.” ThinkingMankindCharacteristicsTexanProvincialism Author:Molly Ivins