The hunter for aphorisms on human nature has to fish in muddy water, and he is even condemned to find much of his own mind.
F. H. BradleyRead
Metaphysics is the finding of bad reasons for what we believe on instinct.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that our instinctual beliefs often require justification that may not be valid.
F. H. Bradley's quote highlights the tendency of humans to seek rational explanations for their instincts or beliefs, often leading to the identification of flawed or 'bad' reasons. It implies a critique of how people rationalize their inherent convictions, suggesting that the true understanding may lie beyond mere intellectual justification, tapping instead into deeper metaphysical considerations.
In practice
In a philosophy class while discussing the nature of belief and reason.
The hunter for aphorisms on human nature has to fish in muddy water, and he is even condemned to find much of his own mind.
Where everything is bad it must be good to know the worst.
The secret of happiness is to admire without desiring. And that is not happiness.
True penitence condemns to silence. What a man is ready to recall he would be willing to repeat.
Our live experiences, fixed in aphorisms, stiffen into cold epigrams. Our heart's blood, as we write it, turns to mere dull ink.
One said of suicide, As long as one has brains one should not blow them out. And another answered, But when one has ceased to have them, too often one cannot.
When a war is won, it's the losers, not the winners, who are liberated.
The future always comes too fast and in the wrong order.
In India we celebrate the commonality of major differences; we are a land of belonging rather than of blood.
Everyone thinks I'm showing off when I talk, ridiculous when I'm silent, insolent when I answer, cunning when I have a good idea, lazy when I'm tired, selfish when I eat one bite more than I should.
I will have nothing to do with a God who cares only occasionally. I need a God who is with us always, everywhere, in the deepest depths as well as the highest heights. It is when things go wrong, when good things do not happen, when our prayers seem to have been lost, that God is most present. We do not need the sheltering wings when things go smoothly. We are closest to God in the darkness, stumbling along blindly.
I suppose all of my films have a common theme. If I think about it, though, the only theme I can think of is really a question: Why canβt people be happier together?
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