It takes a wonderful brain and exquisite senses to produce a few stupid ideas.
George SantayanaRead
I believe in general in a dualism between facts and the ideas of those facts in human heads.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that there is a distinction between objective facts and the subjective interpretations humans have of those facts.
George Santayana articulates a philosophical perspective on the relationship between objective reality and human perception. By stating that there is a 'dualism' between facts and the ideas of those facts, he emphasizes that while facts exist independently of human thought, our understanding, beliefs, and interpretations of these facts are inherently subjective and can vary from person to person.
Themes
FactsIdeasPerceptionTruthUnderstanding
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophical discussion about the nature of reality, one could use this quote to illustrate the distinction between objective and subjective understanding.
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.
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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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