It takes a wonderful brain and exquisite senses to produce a few stupid ideas.
George SantayanaRead
It is possible to be a master in false philosophy, easier, in fact, than to be a master in the truth, because a false philosophy can be made as simple and consistent as one pleases.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Mastering false ideas is often easier than mastering the truth because falsehoods can be easily simplified.
In this quote, George Santayana highlights the ease with which one can attain mastery over false philosophies compared to the complexities of true knowledge. He suggests that while false philosophies can be crafted to be simple and cohesive, the truth is often more intricate and demands greater effort and understanding to grasp and apply.
Themes
PhilosophyTruthFalsehoodKnowledgeMastery
In practice
Example use cases
During a philosophy seminar when discussing the nature of truth.
More from George Santayana
All quotes →The working of great institutions is mainly the result of a vast mass of routine, petty malice, self interest, carelessness and sheer mistake. Only a residual fraction is thought.
George SantayanaRead
There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval. The dark background which death supplies brings out the tender colours of life in all their purity.
George SantayanaRead
Not to believe in love is a great sign of dullness. There are some people so indirect and lumbering that they think all real affection rests on circumstantial evidence.
George SantayanaRead
To feel beauty is a better thing than to understand how we come to feel it. To have imagination and taste, to love the best, to be carried by the contemplation of nature to a vivid faith in the ideal, all this is more, a great deal more, than any science can hope to be.
George SantayanaRead
The vital straining towards an ideal, definite but latent, when it dominates a whole life, may express that ideal more fully than could the best chosen words.
George SantayanaRead
Similar quotes
[H]owever weak our country may be, I hope we shall never sacrifice our liberties.
Alexander HamiltonRead
No salvation without regeneration - no spiritual life without a new birth - no heaven without a new heart.
J. C. RyleRead
Despair is typical of those who do not understand the causes of evil, see no way out, and are incapable of struggle. The modern industrial proletariat does not belong to the category of such classes.
Vladimir LeninRead
You see, gentlemen, reason is an excellent thing, there’s no disputing that, but reason is nothing but reason and satisfies only the rational side of man’s nature, while will is a manifestation of the whole life, that is, of the whole human life including reason and all the impulses. And although our life, in this manifestation of it, is often worthless, yet it is life and not simply extracting square roots.
Fyodor DostoevskyRead
The death of a single human being is too heavy a price for the vindication of any principle, however sacred.
Daniel BerriganRead
Indignation must always be the answer to indignity. Reality is not destiny.
Eduardo GaleanoRead