No great deed, private or public, has ever been undertaken in a bliss of certainty.
Leon WieseltierRead
Here is a humanist proposition for the age of Google: The processing of information is not the highest aim to which the human spirit can aspire, and neither is competitiveness in a global economy. The character of our society cannot be determined by engineers.
Interpretation
Human connection and values surpass mere information processing and competition.
Leon Wieseltier's quote critiques the modern focus on technology and competition, suggesting that the true essence of humanity lies beyond information processing and economic competitiveness. He emphasizes that the moral and ethical character of society cannot solely be dictated by technological advancements or engineering but is rooted in deeper human values and connections.
In practice
This quote could be used in a speech about the importance of ethical considerations in technology development.
No great deed, private or public, has ever been undertaken in a bliss of certainty.
Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as an enlightened person. There is only enlightened activity.
The highest spiritual quality, the noblest property of mind a man can have, is this of loyalty ... a man with no loyalty in him, with no sense of love or reverence or devotion due to something outside and above his poor daily life, with its pains and pleasures, profits and losses, is as evil a case as man can be.
I greet you from Smyrna together with the Churches of God present here with me. They comfort me in every way, both in body and soul. My chains, which I carry about on me for Jesus Christ, begging that I may happily make my way to God, exhort you: persevere in your concord and in you community prayers.
Iraq is just a symbol of the attitude of western democracies to the rest of the world.
He tells so many lies that he convinces himself after a while that he's telling the truth. He just doesn't recognize truth or falsehood.
The rise and fall of civilizations in the long, broad course of history can be seen to have been largely a function of the integrity and cogency of their supporting canons of myth; for not authority but aspiration is the motivator, builder, and transformer of civilization.
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