The task of a writer consists of being able to make something out of an idea.
Thomas MannRead
Has the world ever been changed by anything save the thought and its magic vehicle the Word?
Interpretation
Thought and words are powerful forces for change in the world.
In this quote, Thomas Mann suggests that the true catalyst for change in the world is the power of ideas and the words through which they are expressed. He emphasizes the transformative ability of thought, implying that it is through articulate expression that we can inspire action and provoke significant change in society.
In practice
In a motivational speech about activism, you can use this quote to emphasize the importance of using language to drive change.
The task of a writer consists of being able to make something out of an idea.
Stupid β well, there are so many kinds of stupidity, and cleverness is one of the worst.
It is a strange fact that freedom and equality, the two basic ideas of democracy, are to some extent contradictory. Logically considered, freedom and equality are mutually exclusive, just as society and the individual are mutually exclusive.
I tell them that if they will occupy themselves with the study of mathematics they will find in it the best remedy against the lusts of the flesh.
Literature... is the union of suffering with the instinct for form.
The Freudian theory is one of the most important foundation stones for an edifice to be built by future generations, the dwelling of a freer and wiser humanity.
Certainly the determining acts of her life were not ideally beautiful. They were the mixed result of young and novel impulse struggling amidst the conditions of an imperfect social state, in which great feelings will often take the aspect of error, and great faith the aspect of illusion.
Could God exist if nobody else did? No. Thatβs why gods are very avid for worshipers. If there is nobody to worship them, there are no gods. There are as many gods as there are people thinking about God. In choosing your god, you choose your way of looking at the universe. There are plenty of Gods. Choose yours. The god you worship is the god you deserve.
A thousand policemen directing traffic cannot tell you why you come or where you go.
Haldane was engaged in discussion with an eminent theologian. "What inference," asked the latter, "might one draw about the nature of God from a study of his works?" Haldane replied: "An inordinate fondness for beetles."
Both individuals and societies tell themselves stories to simplify and make sense of the messy chaos of reality.
AI don't make a big thing out of my race. If you try to preach, people give you a little sympathy and then they want to get out of the way. So you don't preach; you tell the story.
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