It takes a wonderful brain and exquisite senses to produce a few stupid ideas.
George SantayanaRead
A conception not reducible to the small change of daily experience is like a currency not exchangeable for articles of consumption; it is not a symbol, but a fraud.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Ideas that cannot be applied to everyday life are meaningless.
George Santayana suggests that ideas and concepts that cannot be practically integrated into daily experiences are essentially worthless. They serve no purpose, much like a form of currency that cannot be used for purchasing goods, thus highlighting the importance of practical application in understanding and validating ideas.
Themes
IdeasExperienceMeaningPhilosophyApplication
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on philosophy, one might quote Santayana to illustrate the importance of practicality in theoretical discussions.
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.
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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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