Man associates ideas not according to logic or verifiable exactitude, but according to his pleasure and interests. It is for this reason that most truths are nothing but prejudices.
Interpretation
Human perception of truth is influenced by personal biases rather than objective reasoning.
This quote by Remy De Gourmont highlights the idea that individuals often form associations between ideas based on their subjective preferences and interests, rather than through logical reasoning or factual accuracy. As a result, many beliefs we hold to be true may merely reflect our biases or societal prejudices, rather than an objective understanding of reality.
In practice
In a discussion about societal norms, one might use this quote to illustrate how personal biases shape collective beliefs.
Science is the only truth and it is the great lie. It knows nothing, and people think it knows everything. It is misrepresented. People think that science is electricity, automobilism, and dirigible balloons. It is something very different. It is life devouring itself. It is the sensibility transformed into intelligence. It is the need to know stifling the need to live. It is the genius of knowledge vivisecting the vital genius.
The mystical life is at the centre of all that I do and all that I think and all that I write.
You wish to be liked. I wish simply to be. One day you will know what that means, perhaps. And you will smile. Not against me. But with me.
It is always quietly thrilling to find yourself looking at a world you know well but have never seen from such an angle before.
The spirit of democracy... requires change of the heart... requires the inculcation of the spirit of brotherhood.
Helping, fixing, and serving represent three different ways of seeing life. When you help, you see life as weak. when you fix, you see life as broken. When you serve, you see life as whole. Fixing and helping may be the work of the ego, and service the work of the soul.
I believe I never knew what the word round meant until I saw Earth from space.
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