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Afrikan Aleksandrovich Špir est un philosophe russe néokantien d'origine allemande. Son livre de 1877 Pensée et réalité exerça une profonde influence sur Friedrich Nietzsche et Tolstoï lui vouait une grande admiration. Wikipedia  

✵ 15. novembre 1837 – 26. mars 1890
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African Spir: 99 citations0 J'aime

African Spir Citations

“Le concept de l'absolu, d'où découlent, dans le domaine moral, les lois ou normes morales, constitue, le principe d'identité, qui est la loi fondamentale de la pensée; il en découle les normes logiques qui régissent la pensée dans le domaine de la science.”

African Spir

Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937)

African Spir: Citations en anglais

“To reform society, and with it humanity, there is only one mean; to transform the mentality of men, to direct them ("les orienter", Fr.) in a new spirit.”

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African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 60.

“The intellectual development of man, far from having get men away from war, has, rather, on the contrary, bring them to a refinment always more perfected in the art of killing. They even came to raise the methods of slaughter to the rank of "science"… We would not (On ne saurait", Fr.) imagine a more extraordinary moral blindness!”

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African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 55.

“Nothing that rest on some contradictory basis shall succeed or last in the long run ("ne saurait réussir ou durer, à la longue", Fr.); all that involve (or imply…) a contradiction is fatally destined, early or late, to disintegrate and disappear.”

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African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 37.

“Whether (If) in a banquet somebody was to take it upon himself to snatch pieces from the mouth of the guests, we would be unanimous to find the method iniquitous and brutal (or violent), but if from another source ("par ailleurs", Fr.) the same is practised in a less apparent (or visible) way (or guise), we hardly show ourselves offended (or shocked) by it ("quand par ailleurs la chose se pratique sous une forme moins apparente, on ne s'en montre guère offusqué." Fr.)”

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African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 46.

“Education has a tremendous power on man. Can't we see to which astonishing disciple the people of Sparte have submitted ("s'est plié", Fr.) for centuries, and this with a view to very petty purposes: purely outer greatness, the military predominace of Sparte. This example proves that man can everything on themselves when they want it ("peuvent tout sur eux-mêmes quand ils le veulent", Fr.); therefore it would only be a question of making them will the good.”

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African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 58.

“So many forces and resources would become available if States, aware (or conscious) of their true (or real) mission, would want to get on (or agree) to abolish every politics aiming at ("visant à", Fr.) expansion or hegemony; system that maintain among nations a a perpetual distrust and tension, impose on them (or force or compel, "leur impose", Fr.) formidable armies and crushing war budgets.”

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African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 54.

“See that unfortunate soldier who is falling hurt to death ("tombe blessé à…", Fr.) on the battlefield; he learns that his folks have vanquished and dies happy. He detached himself from himself (s'est détacher de lui-même", Fr.), has identified himself with something greater and more lasting than himself; his homeland ("patrie", Fr.); thus, while dying as an individual, he has the certainty to survive in a larger existence.”

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African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 53.

“What is missing to our civilisation, is the soul, the spiritual unity, the basis. That is why everything in it is pretence and contrivance ("façade et artifice", Fr.); why also, in spite of the progress and marvellous improvement they have accomplished in the external realm ("domaine extérieur", Fr.) men have, in general, become themselves neither better, nor happier. They have neglected too much the essential; their own perfecting”

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African Spir

or improvement - "perfectionnement", Fr.
Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 36 -First thought of the book, - the translator.

“Apart from selfish reasons, such as fear of punishments, fear of blame, of dishonour, etc, there remains only two motives that can stop (or prevent, "empâecher", Fr.) men from acting badly; the natural sense of commiseration (or "sympathy", - "commisération", Fr.) for one's fellow men - compassion, and the influence of education, by association of ideas ("par l'association d'idées", Fr.) - habit.”

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African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 57.

“A good man ("un homme de bien", Fr.) never wholly perishes, the best part of his being outlives (or survives) in eternity.”

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African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 44.

“The divine element manifests itself (or show up) in man as well by his aptitude for science, than by his aptitude for virtue. True morality, true philosophy and true art are in their essence ("dans leur essence", Fr.) religious."”

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African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 40.

“Only a moral education based on free inner discipline can bring to bear a salutary action and lead to a true morality.”

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African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 59.

“The incorporation of every indidual in a collective mechanism of production, would mean the renunciation (or surrender) for man himself of its independance and his dignity as a rational (or thinking, or reasonable) being. The results (or consequences) of such a state of things would be: regression (or retrogression) and deterioration in every fields (or domain) of life. For the true progress consist in the accomplishment of higher ends, et these would be directly (or right off) made impossible in a coercive social mechanism. Let us think to the fate that, in these conditions, new truths would have in store”

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African Spir

"Qu'on songe au sort qui, dans ces conditions, serait réservé à des vérités nouvelles", Fr.
Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 47.

“Man is in pursuit of two goals: he is looking for happinesse and, being by essence empty ("étant vide par essence", Fr.), he is trying to fill (or take up, - "remplir", Fr.) his life; the latter reason play a more considerable role than we ordinarily think. What we take for vainglory, ambition, love of power and riches (or wealth), is often, indeed, a need to mask this emptiness, a need to let one's hair down (or to live it up), to put oneself on a false scent or trail.”

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African Spir

de se donner le change", Fr.
Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 56.

“The supreme blossoming of character lies (or reside) in renounciation (or renuncement) and abnegation of self ("abnégation de soi", Fr.)”

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African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 38.

“Outward, thanks to the knowledge of physical laws, man could subdue (or subjugate…) nature, but inwardly, he remained a slave to it. For, when all is said and done, at what is aiming all this display (or deployment) of activity, if not to realized outward profits, to provide material pleasure (or enjoyment). It is not the first time that men sell their birth right for a dish of lentils, and thus disown (or repudiate or deny) the best of thmeselves.”

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African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 36 - second thought of the book, - the translator.

“There is a radical dualism between the empirical nature of man and its moral nature.”

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African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 59.

“The physical (or material, "matériel" Fr.) man, who does not imagine that everyhting is relative, yield (or bow down before, "s'incline", Fr.) to outer force, that impress him (or command him respect) from outside, and whose effects are tangible to him, whether they manifest themselves by force, wealth or by domination.”

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African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 50.

“In the actual state of social relationships, the forms ("formes", Fr.) of politeness are necessary as a subsitute to benevolence.”

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African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 50.

“Until now, exterior (or external) authority still domine (or is the dominant feature) too much in the relationships between men, as well as in their spiritual life. This is due to (comes, - "provient de", Fr.) the fact that we regard authority, in all fields, as being what makes (or simply, is) the law ("comme étant ce qui fait loi", Fr.), because in the empirical field, it is always what come first (or take precedence), may it be a force, an individual or an argument, that is winning.”

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African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 45.

“To be effective, morality has to be reasoned (or worked out). To want ("vouloir", Fr.) to repress evil only by coercion, and to obtain morality by a sort of training with the help of constraint, without motivating it from within, is to make it an unnatural result, devoided of lastind value.”

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African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 59.

“There are some who esteem that it is a naivety to believe that a moral regeneration may be possible ("soit possible", Fr.); now, if this was not the case, it would not be worth the trouble that humanity continue to vegetate without aim.”

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African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 61.

“As the antagonism between those who possess, and those who do not, is becoming more acute day after day, we can already foresee a moment when it will bring about ("entraînera", Fr.) severe (big, high, intense, - "grands", Fr.) disasters, if we do turn (direct, aim, - "dirige", Fr.) life in time the social life in new directions”

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African Spir

or ways, - "dans des voies nouvelles", Fr.
Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 46.

“If pity was always equally alive and acting in all individuals and in all circumstances, we could do away with moral. Unfortunately, it is not compassion, but rather it's contrary, selfishness, that act most strongly in us.”

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African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 57.

“Men spend their life down here in the worship of petty (or mean) interests and the search of perishable things, and with that ("et avec cela", Fr.) they pretend to perpetuate for all eternity their self ("moi", Fr.) so hardly worthy ("digne", Fr.) of it.”

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African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 51.

“A same breath will give life to ("animera", Fr.) men, when they will will have succeeded in overcoming all that divide them et put them in opposition one another; then they will have a feeling of (or be aware, or conscious of) the limits of their individuality wonderfully widen (or broaden) and will (or might) be able to ("pourront", Fr.) unite in a beneficial (or salutary or kindly) atmosphere of harmony and brotherly concord.”

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African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 62.

“The distinction between right and wrong ("la distinction du bien et du mal", Fr.), is nothing else than their unyielding (or implacable) opposition; thus the moral consciousness is an innate and intimate revelation of the absolute, which goes beyond (or goes pass, or exceed) every empirical data (or given information). It is only on these principles that we will be able to establish ("pourront être édifiées", Fr.) the real basis of morality.”

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African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 60 - Hélène's Claparède-Spir underlined.

“The duty of the State is double; it must strive to perfect its member, by promoting their intellectual and moral progress, et try to keep the right and the justice in their mutual relationships.”

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African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 44.

“Up to here, in general, we have mainly stuffed the brain of the young people with a indigestible multitude of varios notions, without thinking about enough of the prime necessity to form their character.”

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African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 58.

“The need for sociability induce man to be in touch with his fellow men. However, this need might not ("ne saurait", Fr.) find its full (or complete) satisfaction in the conventional (or superficial, - "conventionnel", Fr.) and deceitful world, in which (or where) everyone is mainly (or mostly) trying to assert oneself in front of others ("devant les autres", Fr.), to appear, and hoping to find in society ("mondaine", Fr.) relationships some advantages for his interest and vanity”

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African Spir

or vainglory or conceit", Fr
Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 53.

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