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.
How to get rid of ego as dictator and turn it into messenger and servant and scout, to be in your service, is the trick.
One needs to be slow to form convictions, but once formed they must be defended against the heaviest odds.
Remember: if you can cease all restless activity, your integral nature will appear.
Outward judgment often fails, inward judgment never.
Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence: nor is the law less stable than the fact.
Never complain and never explain.
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