“We take pleasure in watching an athlete break a record, hearing a soprano in full flight, or reading a philosopher of depth and insight. Human accomplishment is the ultimate spectator sport. Apply as much historical analysis to it as we wish, and we’ll not unlock all its mysteries. The continuous capacity of genius to surpass understanding remains a human constant.”

—  Denis Dutton

" Of Human Accomplishment http://denisdutton.com/murray_review.htm", The New Criterion (February 2004)

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Denis Dutton 1
Professor and philosopher 1944–2010

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Variants:
Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are a part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.
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