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Quotes from The Genteel Tradition in American Philosophy — George Santayana

1863–1952 Spain

← All quotes by George Santayana

8 quotes

To covet truth is a very distinguished passion.

The Genteel Tradition in American Philosophy (1911)

Eternal vigilance is the price of knowledge.

The Genteel Tradition in American Philosophy (1911)

To understand oneself is the classic form of consolation; to elude oneself is the romantic.

The Genteel Tradition in American Philosophy (1911)

The pint would call the quart a dualist, if you tried to pour the quart into him.

The Genteel Tradition in American Philosophy (1911)

Professional philosophers are usually only apologists: that is, they are absorbed in defending some vested illusion or some eloquent idea. Like lawyers or detectives, they study the case for which they are retained.

The Genteel Tradition in American Philosophy (1911)

By their mind, its scope, quality, and temper, we estimate men, for by the mind only do we exist as men, and are more than so many storage-batteries for material energy. Let us therefore be frankly human.

The Genteel Tradition in American Philosophy (1911)

Our dignity is not in what we do, but in what we understand.

The Genteel Tradition in American Philosophy (1911)

Nature ... is what is acting in us, as the sea is what rises in every little wave; but it passes through us, and cry out as we may, it will move on. Our privilege is to have perceived it as it moves. Our dignity is not in what we do, but in what we understand.

The Genteel Tradition in American Philosophy (1967)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: George Santayana (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.