The task of a writer consists of being able to make something out of an idea.
Thomas MannRead
What good would politics be, if it didn’t give everyone the opportunity to make moral compromises.
Interpretation
Politics involves moral compromises that affect everyone.
Thomas Mann's quote reflects on the inherent nature of politics, suggesting that it provides a platform for individuals to navigate and negotiate moral compromises. This raises questions about the ethical dimensions of political action and how such compromises are essential to the functioning of a democratic society, influencing decisions and actions within the political sphere.
In practice
In a discussion about the ethical challenges in government, this quote can illustrate the necessity of compromise.
The task of a writer consists of being able to make something out of an idea.
Stupid — well, there are so many kinds of stupidity, and cleverness is one of the worst.
It is a strange fact that freedom and equality, the two basic ideas of democracy, are to some extent contradictory. Logically considered, freedom and equality are mutually exclusive, just as society and the individual are mutually exclusive.
I tell them that if they will occupy themselves with the study of mathematics they will find in it the best remedy against the lusts of the flesh.
Literature... is the union of suffering with the instinct for form.
The Freudian theory is one of the most important foundation stones for an edifice to be built by future generations, the dwelling of a freer and wiser humanity.
I'm not saying abolish group work - I think there's a time and a place for people to come together and exchange ideas, but let's restore the respect we once had for solitude. And we need to be much more mindful of the way we come together.
What seest thou else_x000D_ _x000D_ In the dark backward and abysm of time?
God's existence cannot be deduced by reason alone.
I can't understand nothingness. I can't understand it and I can't imagine it.
These illustrations suggest four general maxims[...]. The first is: remember that your motives are not always as altruistic as they seem to yourself. The second is: don't over-estimate your own merits. The third is: don't expect others to take as much interest in you as you do yourself. And the fourth is: don't imagine that most people give enough thought to you to have any special desire to persecute you.
The majority have no other reason for their opinions than that they are the fashion.
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