To his dog, every man is Napoleon; hence the constant popularity of dogs.
Aldous HuxleyRead
Generalized intelligence and mental alertness are the most powerful enemies of dictatorship and at the same time the basic conditions of effective democracy.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Intelligence and awareness play crucial roles in opposing dictatorship and fostering democracy.
In this quote, Aldous Huxley highlights the importance of generalized intelligence and mental alertness as essential tools for citizens to resist authoritarian rule. He suggests that an informed and aware populace is fundamental for a functioning democracy, as it empowers individuals to question and challenge oppressive regimes.
Themes
IntelligenceDemocracyDictatorshipAwarenessFreedom
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on democracy, someone might reference this quote to emphasize the need for educated citizens.
More from Aldous Huxley
All quotes βFacts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
Aldous HuxleyRead
In the course of history many more people have died for their drink and their dope than have died for their religion or their country.
Aldous HuxleyRead
On no account brood over your wrongdoing. Rolling in the muck is not the best way of getting clean.
Aldous HuxleyRead
No man ever dared to manifest his boredom so insolently as does a Siamese tomcat when he yawns in the face of his amorously importunate wife.
Aldous HuxleyRead
The leech's kiss, the squid's embrace, The prurient ape's defiling touch: And do you like the human race? No, not much.
Aldous HuxleyRead
Similar quotes
To be identified with your mind is to be trapped in time: the compulsion to live almost exclusively through memory and anticipation.
Eckhart TolleRead
Faith, like a jackal, feeds among the tombs, and even from these dead doubts she gathers her most vital hope.
Herman MelvilleRead
Americans love to pick up, move on, start over. But instead of being somebody fresh and new, they become somebody lonely and lost, or, far too often these days, they become nobody at all, a machine for satisfying hunger, without loyalty or honor or duty.
Orson Scott CardRead
As many arrows, loosed several ways, come to one mark...so many a thousand actions, once afoot, end in one purpose.
William ShakespeareRead
Kind-hearted people might of course think there was some ingenious way to disarm or defeat an enemy without too much bloodshed, and might imagine this is the true goal of the art of war. Pleasant as it sounds; it is a fallacy that must be exposed: War is such a dangerous business that the mistakes which come from kindness are the very worst.
Carl Von ClausewitzRead
A thousand deaths would still be less than he deserves.
George R. R. MartinRead