For life is tendency, and the essence of a tendency is to develop in the form of a sheaf, creating, by its very growth, divergent directions among which its impetus is divided.
Henri BergsonRead
The motive power of democracy is love
Interpretation
What this quote means
Democracy thrives on the love and care of its citizens towards one another and their society.
Henri Bergson's quote emphasizes that the fundamental driving force behind democracy is the love that individuals have for each other and their collective well-being. In a democratic society, it is this affection and concern that motivates people to participate actively in governance, promote justice, and foster solidarity, thereby creating a more harmonious and thriving community.
Themes
DemocracyLoveCitizenshipCommunitySociety
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about community involvement, one might say, 'As Henri Bergson said, the motive power of democracy is love.'
More from Henri Bergson
All quotes βTo exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.
Henri BergsonRead
Laughter is the corrective force which prevents us from becoming cranks.
Henri BergsonRead
I believe that the time given to refutation in philosophy is usually time lost. Of the many attacks directed by many thinkers against each other, what now remains? Nothing, or assuredly very little. That which counts and endures is the modicum of positive truth which each contributes. The true statement is, of itself, able to displace the erroneous idea, and becomes, without our having taken the trouble of refuting anyone, the best of refutations.
Henri BergsonRead
Religion is to mysticism what popularization is to science
Henri BergsonRead
And I also see how this body influences external images: it gives back movement to them.
Henri BergsonRead
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I realized that Eastern thought had somewhat more compassion for all living things. Man was a form of life that in another reincarnation might possibly be a horsefly or a bird of paradise or a deer. So a man of such a faith, looking at animals, might be looking at old friends or ancestors. In the East the wilderness has no evil connotation; it is thought of as an expression of the unity and harmony of the universe.
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What concerns me is that man, unable to articulate, to express himself adequately, reverts to action. Since the vocabulary of action is limited, as it were, to his body, he is bound to act violently, extending his vocabulary with a weapon where there should have been an adjective.
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