The task of a writer consists of being able to make something out of an idea.
Thomas MannRead
Technology and comfort - having those, people speak of culture, but do not have it.
Interpretation
Comfort and technology can create an illusion of culture without true cultural understanding.
In this quote, Thomas Mann suggests that the advancement of technology and the conveniences it brings can lead people to believe they possess culture. However, he warns that this superficial understanding does not equate to genuine cultural depth or appreciation, indicating that true culture requires more than just comfort and technologyβit requires involvement and engagement in oneβs cultural heritage and the arts.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of genuine cultural experiences over digital conveniences.
The task of a writer consists of being able to make something out of an idea.
Stupid β 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.
A most important, but also most elusive, aspect of any tool is its influence on the habits of those who train themselves in its use. If the tool is a programming language this influence is, whether we like it or not, an influence on our thinking habits.... A programming language is a tool that has profound influence on our thinking habits.
People who say they don't see the acceleration of innovation is a wilful blindness. We are innovation at a wonderful speed for the basic things we think everyone should get.
I was in Bangalore, India, the Silicon Valley of India, when I realized that the world was flat.
You have to combine both things: invention and innovation focus, plus the company that can commercialize things and get them to people.
What matters is 'Have you done a better job of making our experiences feel like home on Windows?' That's our real goal, and that's what we're going to stay focused on.
Being connected to the Internet means being vulnerable to coordinated actions that can knock down walls of secrecy and shatter mechanisms of control.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.