Thanks to modern technology, we now can deliver every text in every research library to every citizen in our country, and to everyone in the world. If we fail to do so, we are not living up to our civic duty.
Robert DarntonRead
All of us are citizens in a republic much larger than the Republic of America. It is the Republic of Letters, a realm of the mind that extends everywhere, without police, national boundaries, or disciplinary frontiers.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes a universal intellectual community that transcends geographic and political boundaries.
In this quote, Robert Darnton discusses the concept of the 'Republic of Letters', which refers to an intellectual space where ideas flow freely among individuals regardless of their nationality or societal constraints. It suggests that our engagement with knowledge and ideas creates a connection that surpasses traditional boundaries, fostering a sense of belonging to a larger community devoted to learning and exchange.
In practice
During a lecture on the importance of free thought in academic discussions.
Thanks to modern technology, we now can deliver every text in every research library to every citizen in our country, and to everyone in the world. If we fail to do so, we are not living up to our civic duty.
One feels inclined to say that the intention that man should be 'happy' is not included in the plan of Creation.' . . . We are so made that we can derive intense enjoyment only from a contrast and very little from a state of things.
So no, it's not all in the genes, but what isn't in the genes isn't in the family environment either. It can't be explained in terms of the overall personalities or the child-rearing practices of parents.
The alcohol smell is on my fingers, cold and remote, piercing like a steel pin going in. It smells like white enamel basins. When I look up at the stars in the nighttime, cold and white and sharp, I think they must smell like that.
Do not act following customary beliefs.
The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity.
The motive power of democracy is love
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.