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To regard human beings as tools — as instruments — for the use of other human beings is not only unscientific but it is repugnant, stupid and short sighted. Tools are made by man but have not the autonomy of their maker — they have not man's time-binding capacity for initiation, for self-direction, and self-improvement.

— Alfred Korzybski Manhood of Humanity (1921)

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More quotes by Alfred Korzybski

There are two ways to slide easily through life: to believe everything or to doubt everything; both ways save us from thinking.

Manhood of Humanity (1921)

The only usefulness of a map depends on similarity of structure between the empirical world and the map.

Science and Sanity (1933)

'Whatever you might say the object "is", well it is not.'

The map is not the territory … The only usefulness of a map depends on similarity of structure between the empirical world and the map.

Science and Sanity (1933)

Two important characteristics of maps should be noticed. A map is not the territory it represents, but, if correct, it has a similar structure to the territory, which accounts for its usefulness.

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Alfred Korzybski (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.