William James (1842–1910) American philosopher, psychologist, and pragmatist
"The Acquisition of Ideas"
1910s, Talks to Teachers on Psychology and to Students on Some of Life's Ideals (1911)
What is Enlightenment? (1784)
Context: Through laziness and cowardice a large part of mankind, even after nature has freed them from alien guidance, gladly remain immature. It is because of laziness and cowardice that it is so easy for others to usurp the role of guardians. It is so comfortable to be a minor!
William James (1842–1910) American philosopher, psychologist, and pragmatist
"The Acquisition of Ideas"
1910s, Talks to Teachers on Psychology and to Students on Some of Life's Ideals (1911)
Wilhelm Von Humboldt (1767–1835) German (Prussian) philosopher, government functionary, diplomat, and founder of the University of Berlin
Source: The Limits of State Action (1792), Ch. 3
“Modern life alienates us from Nature, even our own.”
Subhash Kak (1947) Indian computer scientist
The Wishing Tree (2015)
“A large part of mankind is angry not with the sins, but with the sinners.”
Magna pars hominum est quae non peccatis irascitur, sed peccantibus.
Seneca the Younger Moral Essays
De Ira (On Anger): Book 2, cap. 28, line 8
Moral Essays
Bartolomé de las Casas (1474–1566) Spanish Dominican friar, historian, and social reformer
Source: In Defense of the Indians (1548), p. 40
Jane Addams book Peace and Bread in Time of War
Peace and Bread in Time of War (1922), Chapter 7 : Personal Reactions During War
Context: What after all, has maintained the human race on this old globe despite all the calamities of nature and all the tragic failings of mankind, if not faith in new possibilities, and courage to advocate them. Doubtless many times these new possibilities were declared by a man who, quite unconscious of courage, bore the "sense of being an exile, a condemned criminal, a fugitive from mankind." Did every one so feel who, in order to travel on his own proper path had been obliged to leave the traditional highway?
Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) German philosopher
What is Enlightenment? (1784)
Context: It is difficult for the isolated individual to work himself out of the immaturity which has become almost natural for him. He has even become fond of it and for the time being is incapable of employing his own intelligence, because he has never been allowed to make the attempt. Statutes and formulas, these mechanical tools of a serviceable use, or rather misuse, of his natural faculties, are the ankle-chains of a continuous immaturity. Whoever threw it off would make an uncertain jump over the smallest trench because he is not accustomed to such free movement. Therefore there are only a few who have pursued a firm path and have succeeded in escaping from immaturity by their own cultivation of the mind.
Justin D. Fox (1967) South African author, photojournalist, lecturer and editor
The Impossible Five (2015)
Roberto Mangabeira Unger The Religion of the Future
Source: The Religion of the Future (2014), p. 295