The task of a writer consists of being able to make something out of an idea.
Thomas MannRead
What good would politics be, if it didn’t give everyone the opportunity to make moral compromises.
Interpretation
Politics involves moral compromises that affect everyone.
Thomas Mann's quote reflects on the inherent nature of politics, suggesting that it provides a platform for individuals to navigate and negotiate moral compromises. This raises questions about the ethical dimensions of political action and how such compromises are essential to the functioning of a democratic society, influencing decisions and actions within the political sphere.
In practice
In a discussion about the ethical challenges in government, this quote can illustrate the necessity of compromise.
The task of a writer consists of being able to make something out of an idea.
Stupid — well, there are so many kinds of stupidity, and cleverness is one of the worst.
It is a strange fact that freedom and equality, the two basic ideas of democracy, are to some extent contradictory. Logically considered, freedom and equality are mutually exclusive, just as society and the individual are mutually exclusive.
I tell them that if they will occupy themselves with the study of mathematics they will find in it the best remedy against the lusts of the flesh.
Literature... is the union of suffering with the instinct for form.
The Freudian theory is one of the most important foundation stones for an edifice to be built by future generations, the dwelling of a freer and wiser humanity.
It is rational to believe, as it is our very existence that is at stake.
Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts... perhaps the fear of a loss of power.
My mouth is full of decayed teeth and my soul of decayed ambitions.
When liberty destroys order the hunger for order will destroy liberty.
I swear, by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.
A prayer that must have a cannon behind it better never be uttered. Forgiveness ought not to go in partnership with shot and shell. Love need not carry knives and revolvers.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.