“The last hundred years has seen a general decline in the democratic idea. If there be anybody left to whom this historical truth appears a paradox, it is only because during that period nobody has been taught history, least of all the history of ideas.”
"The Future of Democracy" http://www.online-literature.com/chesterton/what-i-saw-in-america/19/
What I Saw in America (1922)
Context: The last hundred years has seen a general decline in the democratic idea. If there be anybody left to whom this historical truth appears a paradox, it is only because during that period nobody has been taught history, least of all the history of ideas. If a sort of intellectual inquisition had been established, for the definition and differentiation of heresies, it would have been found that the original republican orthodoxy had suffered more and more from secessions, schisms, and backslidings. The highest point of democratic idealism and conviction was towards the end of the eighteenth century, when the American Republic was 'dedicated to the proposition that all men are equal.' It was then that the largest number of men had the most serious sort of conviction that the political problem could be solved by the vote of peoples instead of the arbitrary power of princes and privileged orders.
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G. K. Chesterton 229
English mystery novelist and Christian apologist 1874–1936Related quotes
Source: Glasersfeld (2001, p.32) as cited in: Alexander Riegler, "Constructivism." in: Paradigms in theory construction. Springer, New York, NY, 2012. 235-255.
The Deadliest U.S. Natural Hazard: Extreme Cold http://wattsupwiththat.com/2008/12/18/the-deadliest-us-natural-hazard-extreme-cold/ December 18, 2008.
Other
“Nobody has seen shovel here in the last ten years.”
appeal in Croatian Parliament, 11 January 2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG98eha1GbY
Qoutes
Nobel lecture (2001)
Context: The idea that there is one people in possession of the truth, one answer to the world’s ills, or one solution to humanity’s needs, has done untold harm throughout history — especially in the last century. Today, however, even amidst continuing ethnic conflict around the world, there is a growing understanding that human diversity is both the reality that makes dialogue necessary, and the very basis for that dialogue.
We understand, as never before, that each of us is fully worthy of the respect and dignity essential to our common humanity. We recognize that we are the products of many cultures, traditions and memories; that mutual respect allows us to study and learn from other cultures; and that we gain strength by combining the foreign with the familiar.
Il vino è un grande pericolo specie perché non porta a galla la verità. Tutt'altro che la verità anzi: rivela dell'individuo specialmente la storia passata e dimenticata e non la sua attuale volontà; getta capricciosamente alla luce anche tutte le ideucce con le quali in epoca più o meno recente ci si baloccò e che si è dimenticate.
Source: La coscienza di Zeno (1923), P. 194; p. 232.
N.S. Rajaram: From Harappa to Ayodhya, Sahitya Sindhu Prakashana, Bangalore 1997, p.6;
“Ruins—antique ruins at least—are what is left when history has moved on.”
Yoga For People Who Can't Be Bothered To Do It (1993)
Context: Ruins—antique ruins at least—are what is left when history has moved on. They are no longer at the mercy of history, only of time. (p. 207).
"Reflections on State and War" (2 December 2006) http://www.lewrockwell.com/hoppe/hoppe17.html
Session 918, Page 368
Dreams, Evolution and Value Fulfillment, Volume Two (1986)