Others indeed may talk, and write, and fight about liberty, and make an outward pretence to it but the free-thinker alone is truly free.
George BerkeleyRead
Many things, for aught I know, may exist, whereof neither I nor any other man hath or can have any idea or notion whatsoever.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that there are many things in existence that are beyond human comprehension.
George Berkeley's quote emphasizes the limitations of human knowledge and understanding. He suggests that there may be countless realities or entities that exist outside of our perception and that it is possible for humans to be unaware of them entirely. This perspective invites humility regarding the scope of human intellect and opens up a dialogue about the nature of existence and perception.
In practice
In a discussion about the limits of scientific knowledge, you might quote this to emphasize the unknowns.
Others indeed may talk, and write, and fight about liberty, and make an outward pretence to it but the free-thinker alone is truly free.
To be is to be perceived (Esse est percipi)." Or, "If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?
Truth is the cry of all, but the game of few.
All the choir of heaven and furniture of earth - in a word, all those bodies which compose the frame of the world - have not any subsistence without a mind.
The same principles which at first view lead to skepticism, pursued to a certain point, bring men back to common sense.
A ray of imagination or of wisdom may enlighten the universe, and glow into remotest centuries.
O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven
Ineluctable modality of the visible; at least that if no more, thought through my eyes. Signatures of all things I am here to read.
If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.
Being harmless means being so strong, so empowered, that the idea of showing power through harm is not even a part of your consciousness.
The 'deep' civic function of the humanities . . . is something understood very well by totalitarian societies, which tend to keep close tabs on them, and to circumscribe them in direct proportion to how stringently the population is controlled.
It is impossible that had Buonaparte descended from a race of vegetable feeders that he could have had either the inclination or the power to ascend the throne of the Bourbons.
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