17 quotes
It is the considered opinion of most members of our rational élites that, in any given difference of opinion with reality, reality is wrong.
The Doubter's Companion (1994)
In all earlier civilizations, it should be remembered, commerce was treated as a narrow activity and by no means the senior sector in society.
The Doubter's Companion (1994)
It is undoubtedly easier to believe in absolutes, follow blindly, mouth received wisdom. But that is self-betrayal.
The Doubter's Companion (1994)
Which is ideology? Which not? You shall know them by their assertion of truth, their contempt for considered reflection, and their fear of debate.
The Doubter's Companion (1994)
There is something silly about grown men and women striving to reduce their vision of themselves and of civilization to bean counting.
The Doubter's Companion (1994)
Freud, Sigmund: A man so dissatisfied with his own mother and father that he devoted his life to convincing everyone who would listen — or better still, talk — that their parents were just as bad.
The Doubter's Companion (1994)
Freedom: An occupied space which must be reoccupied every day.
The Doubter's Companion (1994)
[C]ontent [is] an obstacle to the exercise of power.
The Doubter's Companion (1994)
"The recession is over." This phrase has been used twice a year since 1973 by government leaders throughout the West. Its meaning is unclear. See: Depression.
The Doubter's Companion (1994)
Myrmecophaga jubata: The anteater. The existence of this predator demonstrates that thinking 71 percent of the time, as ants do, won't prevent you from being eaten. Thinking less than that, as humans do, will almost guarantee it.
The Doubter's Companion (1994)
Faith: The opposite of dogmatism.
The Doubter's Companion (1994)
Capitalism was reasonably content under Hitler, happy under Mussolini, very happy under Franco and delirious under General Pinochet.
The Doubter's Companion (1994)
Pessimism: A valuable protection against quackery.
The Doubter's Companion (1994)
We are the raison d'être of the entire system. We are also the employers of those in public office and in the public service. Why should we accept from them a discourse which suggests contempt for us and for the democratic system?
The Doubter's Companion (1994)
Moral crusade: Public activity undertaken by middle-aged men who are cheating on their wives or diddling little boys. Moral crusades are particularly popular among those seeking power for their own personal pleasure, politicians who can't think of anything useful to do with their mandates, and religious professionals suffering from a personal inability to communicate with their god.
The Doubter's Companion (1994)
The transnational corporations and the money markets have declared the era of human-designed regulations over. Now the market must reign. Because few people in the business community are paid to think about phrases such as "Western civilization," they don't seem to realize that they are proposing the arbitrary denial of 2,500 years of human experience.
The Doubter's Companion (1994)
United States: .... A nation given either to unjustified over-enthusiasms or infantile furies.
The Doubter's Companion (1994)