“The greatest barrier to consciousness is the belief that one is already conscious.”
P. D. Ouspensky (1878–1947) Russian esotericist
The Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution (1950)
The Decline and Fall of Science (1976)
“The greatest barrier to consciousness is the belief that one is already conscious.”
P. D. Ouspensky (1878–1947) Russian esotericist
The Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution (1950)
George Sarton (1884–1956) American historian of science
Preface.
A History of Science Vol.2 Hellenistic Science and Culture in the Last Three Centuries B.C. (1959)
Context: Superstitions... are nothing but persistent errors, foolish beliefs, and irrational fears. Superstitions are infinite in number and scope... It would not do to ignore them altogether, only if we should never forget the weakness and fragility of our minds. The consciousness that superstitions are rife in our own society is a healthy shock to our self-conceit and a warning.... it lets us judge ancient superstitions with more indulgence and with a sense of humor. We could not overlook them without falsifying the general picture nor judge them too severely without hypocrisy.
Periyar E. V. Ramasamy (1879–1973) Tamil politician and social reformer
Quoted in Collected Works of Periyar E.V.R., p. 517.
Society
Marilyn Ferguson (1938–2008) American writer
The Aquarian Conspiracy (1980), Chapter Seven, Right Power
Jerry Coyne book Faith vs. Fact: Why Science and Religion are Incompatible
Source: Faith vs. Fact (2015), p. xii
“Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth.”
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity
Letter to Jost Winteler (1901), quoted in The Private Lives of Albert Einstein by Roger Highfield and Paul Carter (1993), p. 79 http://books.google.com/books?id=zY7FE9ZyDO0C&lpg=PP1&pg=PA79#v=onepage&q&f=false. Einstein had been annoyed that Paul Drude, editor of Annalen der Physik, had dismissed out of hand some criticisms Einstein made of Drude's electron theory of metals. <br class="br">1900s <br class="br">Variant: A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth.
Thomas Edison (1847–1931) American inventor and businessman
As quoted in Edison & Ford Quote Book (2003) edited by Edison & Ford Winter Estates.
Date unknown
George Mason (1725–1792) American delegate from Virginia to the U.S. Constitutional Convention
Letter to his daughter Sarah Mason McCarty after the death of an infand daughter (10 February 1785), published in The Life of George Mason, 1725-1792 Vol. 2 (1892) by Kate Mason Rowland, p. 74
Context: A few years' experience will convince us that those things which at the time they happened we regarded as our greatest misfortunes have proved our greatest blessings. Of this awful truth no person has lived to my age without seeing abundant proof. Your dear baby has died innocent and blameless, and has been called away by an all wise and merciful Creator, most probably from a life of misery and misfortune, and most certainly to one of happiness and bliss.
Leo Strauss (1899–1973) Classical philosophy specialist and father of neoconservativism
“What is liberal education,” pp. 7-8
Liberalism Ancient and Modern (1968)
Charles Webster Leadbeater (1854–1934) English theosophist
Source: The Other Side of Death (1903), p. 3