Has there ever been a society which has died of dissent? Several have died of conformity in our lifetime.
Jacob BronowskiRead
Ask an impertinent question and you are on the way to the pertinent answer.
Interpretation
Asking bold or challenging questions can lead to valuable insights and answers.
This quote emphasizes the importance of inquiry in the pursuit of knowledge. Jacob Bronowski suggests that when we dare to ask questions that may seem inappropriate or challenging, we open the door to deeper understanding and critical thinking, ultimately guiding ourselves towards pertinent answers that may not have been obvious before.
In practice
During a workshop, you might say this quote to encourage participants to think outside the box.
Has there ever been a society which has died of dissent? Several have died of conformity in our lifetime.
There is no absolute knowledge. And those who claim it, whether they are scientists or dogmatists, open the door to tragedy.
To me the most interesting thing about man is that he is an animal who practices art and science and in every known society practices both together.
A man becomes creative, whether he is an artist or scientist, when he finds a new unity in the variety of nature. He does so by finding a likeness between things which were not thought alike before.
The values by which we are to survive are not rules for just and unjust conduct, but are those deeper illuminations in whose light justice and injustice, good and evil, means and ends are seen in fearful sharpness of outline.
The basis for poetry and scientific discovery is the ability to comprehend the unlike in the like and the like in the unlike.
When we finally give up the struggle to find fulfillment "out there," we have nowhere to go but within. It is at this moment of total surrender that a new light begins to dawn.
We are our choices. Build yourself a great story.
Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.
Meditation is one of the rare occasions when we're not doing anything. _x000D_ _x000D_ Otherwise, we're always doing something, we're always thinking something, we're always occupied. _x000D_ _x000D_ We get lost in millions of obsessions and fixations. _x000D_ _x000D_ But by meditating-by not doing anything-_x000D_ _x000D_ all these fixations are revealed and our obsessions will naturally undo themselves like a snake uncoiling itself.
Ask yourself what problem you have right now. Not next year, tomorrow or five minutes from now. You can always cope with the now, but you can never cope with the future. Nor do you have to. The answer, the strength and the right action will be there when you need it. Not before or after.
If there was two birds sitting on a fence, he would bet you which one would fly first.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.