“And if I am not mistaken here is the secret of the greatness that was Spain. In Spain it is men that are the poems, the pictures and the buildings. Men are its philosophies. They lived, these Spaniards of the Golden Age; they felt and did; they did not think. Life was what they sought and found, life in its turmoil, its fervour and its variety. Passion was the seed that brought them forth and passion was the flower they bore. But passion alone cannot give rise to a great art. In the arts the Spaniards invented nothing. They did little in any of those they practised, but give a local colour to a virtuosity they borrowed from abroad. Their literature, as I have ventured to remark, was not of the highest rank; they were taught to paint by foreign masters, but, inapt pupils, gave birth to one painter only of the very first class; they owed their architecture to the Moors, the French and the Italians, and the works themselves produced were best when they departed least from their patterns. Their preeminence was great, but it lay in another direction: it was a preeminence of character. In this I think they have been surpassed by none and equalled only by the ancient Romans. It looks as though all the energy, all the originality, of this vigorous race had been disposed to one end and one end only, the creation of man. It is not in art that they excelled, they excelled in what is greater than art--in man. But it is thought that has the last word.” ArtCharacterLiteratureThoughtSpaniardsCreation Of ManThe Last WordThe Golden AgeAncient Romans Book:Don Fernando Source: Don Fernando
“Nature gave the same form to all And warms each one with the same heat Using reason, we follow her inclination To give equal opportunity to our fellow humans Who are our brothers. None should seek felicity To the detriment of his neighbor. Depriving oneself of a pleasure to offer it to others Is the sign of a noble heart And the expression of wisdom. Thus nature and reason go hand in hand And ask us to help one another For the good of all and by common agreement We share In the feast of life.” ReasonEqualityMother NatureGolden AgeEgalitarianismEquality QuotesEgalitarianEqualsEgalitarian SocietyThe Golden Age Book:L'âge d'or. Volume 1 Source: L'âge d'or. Volume 1
“They had come to praise him. "It was so beautiful, so comical, so true to life!" the doctor said. The little girl gave him the flowers and the Mayor embraced him lightly. "Oh, we thought, signore," he said, "that you were merely a poet.” The Golden Age Book:The Stories of John Cheever (Pulitzer Prize Winner) Source: The Stories of John Cheever (Pulitzer Prize Winner)