When the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free and was never free again.
Edith HamiltonRead
Theories that go counter to the facts of human nature are foredoomed.
Interpretation
Theories that ignore human nature are bound to fail.
This quote suggests that any theories or ideas that do not align with the fundamental truths of human nature are destined to be unsuccessful. It emphasizes the importance of understanding and integrating the realities of human behavior and psychology when developing theories about society, culture, or relationships.
In practice
This quote could be used in a debate about the effectiveness of certain social theories.
When the freedom they wished for most was freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free and was never free again.
The power of good is shown not by triumphantly conquering evil, but by continuing to resist evil while facing certain defeat.
To rejoice in life, to find the world beautiful ... was a mark of the Greek spirit.
Responsibility is the price every man must pay for freedom.
So far, we do not seem appalled at the prospect of exactly the same kind of education being applied to all the school children from the Atlantic to the Pacific, but there is an uneasiness in the air, a realization that the individual is growing less easy to find; an idea, perhaps, of what standardization might become when the units are not machines, but human beings.
Pain is the most individualized thing on earth. It is true that it is the great common bond as well, but that realization only comes when it is over. To suffer is to be alone. To watch another suffer is to know the barrier that shuts each of us away by himself Only individuals can suffer.
The true greatness of nations is in those qualities which constitute the greatness of the individual.
.. that a rule, which, in speculation, may seem the most advantageous to society, may yet be found, in practice, totally pernicious and destructive.
Anytime I meet people who got to make the deliberate choice, whose parents chose Canada, I'm jealous. Because I think being able to choose it, rather than being Canadian by default, is an amazing statement of attachment to Canada.
Murderers are not monsters, they're men. And that's the most frightening thing about them.
In my country, we're sufficiently consumed by the concept of happiness that the right to its pursuit is enshrined in the Declaration of Independence. But what is happiness?
Man with all his shrewdness is as stupid about understanding by himself the mysteries of God, as an ass is incapable of understanding musical harmony.
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