“There are innumerable instances suggesting that modern intellectuals do not believe themselves, that they don't really believe what they say, that they say certain things only in order to assure themselves that they possess opinions and ideas that are different from those that are entertained by the common herd of men.” MenBelieveIdeasDifferentCertainOrderCommonOpinionModernIntellectInstanceHerdsSuggesting Book:The Passing of the Modern Age Source: The Passing of the Modern Age
“Advertising is the modern substitute for argument, its function is to make the worse appear the better article. A confused competition of all propagandas -- those insults to human nature -- is carried on by the most expert psychological methods -- for instance, by always repeating a lie.” HumansLyingModernHuman NatureArgumentFunctionMethodCompetitionPsychologicalAdvertisingInstancePropagandaExpertsConfusedInsultSubstitutesArticles Book:The Works of George Santayana Source: The Works of George Santayana
“Modern transcendental idealism, Emersonianism, for instance, also seems to let God evaporate into abstract Ideality. Not a deity in concreto, not a superhuman person, but the immanent divinity in things, the essentially spiritual structure of the universe, is the object of the transcendentalist cult. In that address of the graduating class at Divinity College in 1838 which made Emerson famous, the frank expression of this worship of mere abstract laws was what made the scandal of the performance.” PersonsMadeSeemsSpiritualLawUniverseClassModernObjectsCollegeExpressionLetting GoWorshipPerformancesStructureMereInstanceAbstractDivinityAddressesGraduatesFrankIdealismCultScandalDeitiesTranscendentalSuperhumanGraduating Class Author:William James
“The life of a thinking man will probably be divided into two parts -- the first in which he desires to exterminate modern thinkers, and the second in which he desires to watch them exterminating each other. ... Suppose, for instance, there is an old story and a new skeptic who is skeptical of the story. We have only to wait a little while for a yet newer skeptic who is skeptical of the skeptic. He will probably find the old notion actually a help in his new notion. This process is an abstract truth applying to anything, apart from agreement or disagreement.” ThinkingMenFirstsLittlesTwoHelpingStoriesTruthDesireWaitingProcessWatchesModernNotionInstanceAbstractAgreementDividedThinkerSkepticalDisagreementSkepticThinking Man Author:Gilbert K. Chesterton
“Full of wise saws and modern instances.” SawsWiseModernStageInstanceQuotationsYou Like ItStage Acting Author:William Shakespeare
“With modern technology and science, you can't find one instance in which an abortion would be needed to save a woman's life. There is no such exception as life of the mother, and as far as health of the mother, same thing.” Would BeMotherReligionTechnologyModernNeededInstanceAbortionExceptionModern Technology Author:Joe Walsh
“In this modern world of ours many people seem to think that science has somehow made such religious ideas as immortality untimely or old fashioned. I think science has a real surprise for the skeptics. Science, for instance, tells us that nothing in nature, not even the tiniest particle, can disappear without a trace. Nature does not know extinction. All it knows is transformation. If God applies this fundamental principle to the most minute and insignificant parts of His universe, doesn't it make sense to assume that He applies it to the masterpiece of His creation, the human soul?” PeopleIfsThinkingKnowsWorldHumansDoeMadeIdeasRealSoulSeemsUniverseReligiousPrinciplesModernMinutesCreationTransformationFundamentalsAssumingSurpriseDisappearInstanceMake SenseImmortalityMasterpieceOld FashionedInsignificantExtinctionModern WorldParticlesHuman SoulSkepticFundamental PrinciplesWithout A Trace Author:Wernher von Braun