It takes a wonderful brain and exquisite senses to produce a few stupid ideas.
George SantayanaRead
Wisdom comes by disillusionment.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Wisdom often arises from facing harsh realities and overcoming illusions.
George Santayana's quote highlights the idea that true wisdom is not always easily gained; it often comes through the process of disillusionment. When we confront the truths that dismantle our previous misconceptions, we gain deeper insights and understanding about life, leading us to a more profound sense of wisdom.
Themes
WisdomDisillusionmentTruthUnderstandingKnowledge
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech on personal growth, one might quote Santayana to emphasize the importance of understanding reality.
More from George Santayana
All quotes βThe 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.
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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
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For to err in opinion, though it be not the part of wise men, is at least human.
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The things you get fired for when youβre young are the same things that you get lifetime achievement awards for when youβre old.
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Enjoy when you can, and endure when you must.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead