Controlled hysteria is what's required. To exist constantly in a state of controlled hysteria. It's agony. But everyone has agony. The difference is that I try to take my agony home and teach it to sing.
Arthur MillerRead
The task of the real intellectual consists of analyzing illusions in order to discover their causes.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Real intellectuals critically examine false beliefs to understand their origins.
This quote by Arthur Miller emphasizes the role of intellectuals in society as those who critically analyze and deconstruct commonly held illusions or misconceptions. By uncovering the underlying causes of these illusions, they provide deeper insights and understanding of the human experience, ultimately fostering greater knowledge and awareness in both themselves and others.
Themes
IntellectualIllusionAnalysisCausesUnderstanding
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on critical thinking, this quote can be used to illustrate the importance of questioning commonly accepted ideas.
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All quotes βThe word "now" is like a bomb through the window, and it ticks.
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Amos Oz is one of the finest novelists of this entire period. MY MICHAEL is a beautiful work of great depth and in some indescribable way lingers in the mind as a lyric song to his country's people as much as a moving love story.
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Just remember, kid, you can quicker get back a million dollars that was stole than a word that you gave away.
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Oh,Elizabeth, your justice would freeze beer.
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The structure of a play is always the story of how the birds came home to roost.
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All stories are about wolves. All worth repeating, that is. Anything else is sentimental drivel. ...Think about it. There's escaping from the wolves, fighting the wolves, capturing the wolves, taming the wolves. Being thrown to the wolves, or throwing others to the wolves so the wolves will eat them instead of you. Running with the wolf pack. Turning into a wolf. Best of all, turning into the head wolf. No other decent stories exist.
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This life is not real. I conquered the world and it did not bring me satisfaction.
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I might respect you as a brilliant intellect, runner, musician or juggler. But respect your BELIEFS? Only if they're supported by evidence.
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A few days later, I found my mother beneath the tree, motionless with excitement, her head turned toward the heavens in which she would allow human religions no place.
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Losing too is still ours; and even forgetting still has a shape in the kingdom of transformation. When something's let go of, it circles; and though we are rarely the center of the circle, it draws around us its unbroken, marvelous curve.
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My father (Danny Thomas) used to tell me there are two kinds of people, the takers and the givers. 'The takers sometimes eat better,' he would say, 'but the givers always sleep better.'
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