Stanislav Andreski cytaty

„Uważam, tak jak Arystoteles, że każdy rząd, bez względu na formę, jest podatny na szeroko rozumianą korupcję, a w sytuacjach krańcowych z reguły okazje się rządem złym. Zgadzam się także z poglądem […], że najlepszy jest rząd mieszany lub oparty na równowadze różnych czynników, chociaż - dodajmy - właśnie owa niejednorodność władzy może doprowadzić do wewnętrznych konfliktów lub paraliżu, a nie do efektywnych działań, zwłaszcza jeżeli inne czynniki zakłócają ład publiczny. W formach rządu widzę raczej wartości instrumentalne niż ostateczne i same w sobie istotne. (Maxa Webera olśnienia i pomyłki, s. 136)”

„Podczas pobytu na dworze carycy Katarzyny II wielki szwajcarski matematyk Leonhard Euler wdał się w dyskusję na temat istnienia Boga. Aby pokonać przeciwników, poprosił o tablicę, na której napisał: (x + y)^2 = x^2 + 2xy + y^2, a więc Bóg istnieje! Nie mogąc zakwestionować adekwatności wywodu, którego nie rozumieli, i nie chcąc okazać swojej niewiedzy, oponenci przyjęli ten argument za rozstrzygający.”

“[T]he reason why human understanding has been able to advance in the past, and may do so in the future, is that true insights are cumulative and retain their value regardless of what happens to their discoverers; while fads and stunts may bring an immediate profit to the impresarios, but lead nowhere in the long run, cancel each other out, and are dropped as soon as their promoters are no longer there (or have lost the power) to direct the show. Anyway, let us not despair.”

“Every human society which has endured long enough to leave records has had elaborate customs and institutions which were effective in instilling into the young the sentiments necessary for its perpetuation. Now for the first time in recorded history Western capitalism offers us a spectacle of a system which not only has given up altogether the task of moral education, but actually employs vast resources and the means of persuasion of unprecedented power to destroy the customs, norms and ideals indispensable for its survival; and to implant fundamentally anti-social attitudes which are incompatible with any reasonable social order. It would be miraculous if a social order which permits such massive anti-socialisation could fail to destroy itself.”

“Laughter is a mental mechanism which enables us to face reality without falling into despondency or delusion. As people who have sunk in apathy seldom bother us by rushing into print, delusion (leaving aside deceit) constitutes the chief obstacle to the progress of our understanding of society, and in this context is usually assumes the form of doctrinairism couched in a mystifying jargon. A sense of humour is the most reliable external indicator of the likelihood of immunity from this folly, and of the ability to appraise social situations realistically.”

“Sacrifice has always been regarded as the most convincing proof of loyalty; and its most common form involves a foregoing of the use of some organic function, as in the case of celibacy or fasting. Of at least equal significance, however, is a sacrifice of the use of reason - credo quia impossibile - and the more incredible the assertion, the stronger the proof of the devotion manifested by its acceptance. The Catholic theologians are quite explicit about this, and openly say that by affirming what to the human reason appears absurd, a believer proves his love for God. Although they are never so frank about it, the secular sects make similar demands.”

“So long as authority inspires awe, confusion and absurdity enhance conservative tendencies in society. Firstly, because clear and logical thinking leads to a cumulation of knowledge (of which the progress of the natural sciences provides the best example) and the advance of knowledge sooner or later undermines the traditional order. Confused thinking, on the other hand, leads nowhere in particular and can be indulged indefinitely without producing any impact upon the world.”