For life is tendency, and the essence of a tendency is to develop in the form of a sheaf, creating, by its very growth, divergent directions among which its impetus is divided.
Henri BergsonRead
The motive power of democracy is love
Interpretation
Democracy thrives on the love and care of its citizens towards one another and their society.
Henri Bergson's quote emphasizes that the fundamental driving force behind democracy is the love that individuals have for each other and their collective well-being. In a democratic society, it is this affection and concern that motivates people to participate actively in governance, promote justice, and foster solidarity, thereby creating a more harmonious and thriving community.
In practice
In a speech about community involvement, one might say, 'As Henri Bergson said, the motive power of democracy is love.'
For life is tendency, and the essence of a tendency is to develop in the form of a sheaf, creating, by its very growth, divergent directions among which its impetus is divided.
To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.
Laughter is the corrective force which prevents us from becoming cranks.
I believe that the time given to refutation in philosophy is usually time lost. Of the many attacks directed by many thinkers against each other, what now remains? Nothing, or assuredly very little. That which counts and endures is the modicum of positive truth which each contributes. The true statement is, of itself, able to displace the erroneous idea, and becomes, without our having taken the trouble of refuting anyone, the best of refutations.
Religion is to mysticism what popularization is to science
And I also see how this body influences external images: it gives back movement to them.
If someone tells you he is going to make a 'realistic decision', you immediately understand that he has resolved to do something bad.
Try and leave this world a little better than you found it, and when your turn comes to die, you can die happy in feeling that at any rate, you have not wasted your time but have done your best.
It is impossible to believe that the same God who permitted His own son to die a bachelor regards celibacy as an actual sin.
It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity.
I was early taught by sorrow to shed tears, and now when sudden joy lights up, or any unexpected sorrow strikes my heart, I find it difficult to repress the full and swelling tide of feeling.
Life is a great sunrise. I do not see why death should not be an even greater one.
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