Through every rift of discovery some seeming anomaly drops out of the darkness, and falls, as a golden link into the great chain of order.
Edwin Hubbel ChapinRead
Bigotry dwarfs the soul by shutting out the truth.
Interpretation
Bigotry limits understanding and truth by rejecting differing perspectives.
This quote reflects on the detrimental effects of bigotry, suggesting that it not only narrows oneβs perspective but also impoverishes the soul by preventing the acceptance of truths that come from diverse experiences and viewpoints. It posits that open-mindedness is essential for personal and collective growth, as it allows individuals to embrace the complexity of life and embrace truths that may challenge their preconceived notions.
In practice
In a speech against discrimination, one might say, 'Bigotry dwarfs the soul by shutting out the truth.'
Through every rift of discovery some seeming anomaly drops out of the darkness, and falls, as a golden link into the great chain of order.
Revolution does not insure progress. You may overturn thrones, but what proof that anything better will grow upon the soil?
Do not ask if a man has been through college; ask if a college has been through him; if he is a walking university.
Goodness consists not in the outward things we do, but in the inward thing we are.
Tomorrow may never come to us. We do not live in tomorrow. We cannot find it in any of our title-deeds. The man who owns whole blocks of real estate, and great ships on the sea, does not own a single minute of tomorrow. Tomorrow! It is a mysterious possibility, not yet born. It lies under the seal of midnight-behind the veil of glittering constellations.
A true man never frets about his place in the world, but just slides into it by the gravitation of his nature, and swings there as easily as a star.
But when a manβs religion becomes really frantic; when it is a positive torment to him; and in fine, makes this earth of ours an uncomfortable inn to lodge in; then I think it high time to take that individual aside and argue the point with him.
Free election of masters does not abolish the masters or the slaves. Free choice among a wide variety of goods and services does not signify freedom if these goods and services sustain social controls over a life of toil and fear β that is, if they sustain alienation. And the spontaneous reproduction of superimposed needs by the individual does not establish autonomy; it only testifies to the efficacy of the controls.
To the scientist, nature is always and merely a 'phenomenon,' not in the sense of being defective in reality, but in the sense of being a spectacle presented to his intelligent observation; whereas the events of history are never mere phenomena, never mere spectacles for contemplation, but things which the historian looks, not at, but through, to discern the thought within them.
How can you respect the world when you see it's being run by a bunch of kids turned old?
If the universe were just electrons and selfish genes, meaningless tragedies ... are exactly what we should expect, along with equally meaningless good fortune. Such a universe would be neither evil nor good in intention ... The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference.
The meaning of good and bad, of better and worse, is simply helping or hurting.
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