The Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, is seen as the beginning of modern depravity.
Umberto EcoRead
Every great thinker is someone else's moron.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Great thinkers are often misunderstood or dismissed by others who don't appreciate their ideas.
This quote by Umberto Eco suggests that the brilliance of great thinkers is frequently overshadowed by the ignorance or lack of understanding of others. It highlights the notion that innovative ideas and profound insights may seem foolish or irrelevant to those who lack the ability to appreciate their depth or significance, thereby undermining the thinkers' contributions. In essence, the quote invites us to reconsider our judgments and acknowledges the complexity and sometimes contentious nature of intellectual discourse.
Themes
ThinkerMoronUnderstandingPhilosophyIdeas
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about innovation, one could cite this quote to emphasize the importance of embracing unconventional ideas.
More from Umberto Eco
All quotes βI think that at a certain age, say fifteen or sixteen, poetry is like masturbation. But later in life good poets burn their early poetry, and bad poets publish it. Thankfully I gave up rather quickly.
Umberto EcoRead
But why do some people support [the heretics]?" "Because it serves their purposes, which concern the faith rarely, and more often the conquest of power." "Is that why the church of Rome accuses all its adversaries of heresy?" "That is why, and that is also why it recognizes as orthodoxy any heresy it can bring back under its own control or must accept because the heresy has become too strong.
Umberto EcoRead
You die, but most of what you have accumulated will not be lost; you are leaving a message in a bottle.
Umberto EcoRead
"Then we are living in a place abandoned by God," I said, disheartened. "Have you found any places where God would have felt at home?" William asked me, looking down from his great height.
Umberto EcoRead
The lunatic is all idΓ©e fixe, and whatever he comes across confirms his lunacy. You can tell him by the liberties he takes with common sense, by his flashes of inspiration, and by the fact that sooner or later he brings up the Templars.
Umberto EcoRead
Similar quotes
Even if you play perfectly, a fault of your opponent's can destroy the entire beauty of the game.
Vladimir KramnikRead
Everybody must be managed. Queens must be managed. Kings must be managed, for men want managing almost as much as women, and that's saying a good deal.
Thomas HardyRead
It is to be remarked that a good many people are born curiously unfitted for the fate waiting them on this earth.
Joseph ConradRead
I stand four-square for reason, and object to what seems to me to be irrationality, whatever the source. If you are on my side in this, I must warn you that the army of the night has the advantage of overwhelming numbers, and, by its very nature, is immune to reason, so that it is entirely unlikely that you and I can win out. We will always remain a tiny and probably hopeless minority, but let us never tire of presenting our view, and of fighting the good fight for the right.
Isaac AsimovRead
The One remains, the many change and pass;_x000D_ _x000D_ Heaven's light forever shines, Earth's shadows fly;_x000D_ _x000D_ Life, like a dome of many-coloured glass,_x000D_ _x000D_ Stains the white radiance of Eternity,_x000D_ _x000D_ Until Death tramples it to fragments.
Percy Bysshe ShelleyRead
When we have become free, we need not go mad and throw up society and rush off to die in the forest or the cave; we shall remain where we were but we shall understand the whole thing. The same phenomena will remain but with a new meaning.
Swami VivekanandaRead