It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
Reason is a faculty far larger than mere objective force. When either the political or the scientific discourse announces itself as the voice of reason, it is playing God, and should be spanked and stood in the corner.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Reason should not be seen as an absolute authority in politics or science, as it risks assuming a god-like role.
Ursula K. Le Guin critiques the idea that reason alone can dictate moral and ethical standards in politics and science. She suggests that when these fields claim to be the sole voice of reason, they elevate themselves to a god-like position, which can lead to dogmatism and a lack of humility in the face of human complexity and uncertainty. Such an overreach should be corrected, and those who presume such authority need to be reminded of their limitations.
Themes
ReasonAuthorityPoliticsScienceHumilityCritique
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about the role of science in public policy, this quote can illustrate the need for balance between rationality and ethical considerations.
More from Ursula K. Le Guin
All quotes →In reading a novel, any novel, we have to know perfectly well that the whole thing is nonsense, and then, while reading, believe every word of it. Finally, when we're done with it, we may find - if it's a good novel - that we're a bit different from what we were before we read it, that we have changed a little... But it's very hard to say just what we learned, how we were changed.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty; not knowing what comes next.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
We read books to find out who we are. What other people, real or imaginary, do and think and feel... is an essential guide to our understanding of what we ourselves are and may become.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
When he found that the administrators were upset, he laughed. “Do they expect students not to be anarchists?” he said. “What else can the young be? When you are on the bottom, you must organize from the bottom up
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
The creative adult is the child who has survived.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
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