The sun, the moon and the stars would have disappeared long ago... had they happened to be within the reach of predatory human hands.
Havelock EllisRead
It is becoming clear that the old platitudes can no longer be maintained, and that if we wish to improve our morals we must first improve our knowledge.
Interpretation
Improving our knowledge is essential for enhancing our morals.
This quote emphasizes the importance of knowledge as a foundation for moral improvement. Havelock Ellis suggests that mere adherence to old sayings or platitudes is insufficient for ethical progress; instead, a deeper understanding and education are required to cultivate better moral standards in society.
In practice
During a seminar on ethics, this quote could highlight the importance of education in moral development.
The sun, the moon and the stars would have disappeared long ago... had they happened to be within the reach of predatory human hands.
Life is livable because we know that wherever we go most of the people we meet will be restrained in their actions towards us by an almost instinctive network of taboos.
To live remains an art which everyone must learn, and which no one can teach.
The absence of flaw in beauty is itself a flaw.
Every man of genius sees the world at a different angle from his fellows, and there is his tragedy.
It is on our failures that we base a new and different and better success.
...I returned to walking up the mountain, and there, in the dim asexual beauty of reddening dawns and skies that firmed to blue, I discovered my real and appropriate strengths.
Vulnerability is not weakness. And that myth is profoundly dangerous.... Vulnerability is the birthplace of connection and the path to the feeling of worthiness. If it doesn't feel vulnerable, the sharing is probably not constructive.
Speak of the moderns without contempt and of the ancients without idolatry; judge them all by their merits, but not by their age
We will continue to ignore political and economic forecasts, which are an expensive distraction for many investors and _x000D_ businessmen. Thirty years ago, no one could have foreseen the huge expansion of the Vietnam War, wage and price controls, two oil shocks, the resignation of a president, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, a one-day drop in the Dow of 508 points, or treasury bill yields fluctuating between 2.8% and 17.4%.
Hard work and humility are essential for spiritual sadhana.
If youβre told what to look for, you canβt see anything else.
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