It takes a wonderful brain and exquisite senses to produce a few stupid ideas.
George SantayanaRead
I like to walk about among the beautiful things that adorn the world; but private wealth I should decline, or any sort of personal possessions, because they would take away my liberty.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses a preference for appreciating beauty in the world over material wealth, as possessions may restrict personal freedom.
George Santayana highlights the value of experiencing and enjoying the beauty of the world without being burdened by personal possessions. He suggests that private wealth can inhibit one's freedom, as it may lead to attachments and responsibilities that detract from the fundamental enjoyment of life and nature.
Themes
BeautyLibertyWealthPossessionsFreedom
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about minimalism and the importance of valuing experiences over material goods.
More from George Santayana
All quotes →The working of great institutions is mainly the result of a vast mass of routine, petty malice, self interest, carelessness and sheer mistake. Only a residual fraction is thought.
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There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval. The dark background which death supplies brings out the tender colours of life in all their purity.
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Not to believe in love is a great sign of dullness. There are some people so indirect and lumbering that they think all real affection rests on circumstantial evidence.
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To feel beauty is a better thing than to understand how we come to feel it. To have imagination and taste, to love the best, to be carried by the contemplation of nature to a vivid faith in the ideal, all this is more, a great deal more, than any science can hope to be.
George SantayanaRead
The vital straining towards an ideal, definite but latent, when it dominates a whole life, may express that ideal more fully than could the best chosen words.
George SantayanaRead
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