The Greeks possessed a knowledge of human nature we seem hardly able to attain to without passing through the strengthening hibernation of a new barbarism.
Georg C. LichtenbergRead
Even truth needs to be clad in new garments if it is to appeal to a new age.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Truth must be presented in a way that resonates with the audience of its time.
This quote suggests that while truth is constant, its presentation must adapt to the evolving values, beliefs, and preferences of society. By 'cladding' truth in new garments, we make it more relatable and acceptable for new generations, ensuring that its essence is not lost but is instead enhanced through contemporary understanding and context.
Themes
TruthChangeAdaptationSocietyPresentation
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on social justice, one might use the quote to highlight the importance of evolving narratives.
More from Georg C. Lichtenberg
All quotes βMany things about our bodies would not seem to us so filthy and obscene if we did not have the idea of nobility in our heads.
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Astronomy is perhaps the science whose discoveries owe least to chance, in which human understanding appears in its whole magnitude, and through which man can best learn how small he is.
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The thoughts written on the walls of madhouses by their inmates might be worth publicizing.
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The noble simplicity in the works of nature only too often originates in the noble shortsightedness of him who observes it.
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Food probably has a very great influence on the condition of men. Wine exercises a more visible influence, food does it more slowly but perhaps just as surely. Who knows if a well-prepared soup was not responsible for the pneumatic pump or a poor one for a war?
Georg C. LichtenbergRead
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