'Definition of the Political Thought of Tlön' (p.91)
Gray's Anatomy: Selected Writings (2009)
Source: 1970s-1980s, The Limits Of Organization (1974), Chapter 4, Authority And Responsibility, p. 65
“The owl of Minerva only flies abroad when the shades of night are gathering.”
Source: 'The Owl and the Bulldog: Reflections on Conservatism and Foreign Policy', Twentieth Century, Volume 155 (1954), p. 107
Context: Speaking for Conservatism, Hegel was right. And nothing proves it better than the post-war crop of Tory intellectuals, sprouting like mushrooms in the damp cellars of Abbey House. Not until the stimuli which originally conditioned Conservative reflexes have finally disappeared can the intellectual emerge to provide a rationale for Conservative behaviour. So Conservative theory must always base itself on some form of historical restorationism. The moderate seeks the world of Joseph Chamberlain—or if he is daring, of Disraeli. The really advanced radical looks still further back, to Prince Rupert, or the Middle Ages, particularly if he is a Catholic.
Afterword, p. 190
1980s, Literary Theory: An Introduction (1983)
“The owl of Minerva takes its flight only when the shades of night are gathering.”
Preface xxx
Variant: When philosophy paints its grey on grey, then has a shape of life grown old. By philosophy's grey on grey it cannot be rejuvenated but only understood. The owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the falling of the dusk.
As translated by T. M. Knox, (1952) <!-- p. 13 -->
Source: Elements of the Philosophy of Right (1820/1821)
Context: Only one word more concerning the desire to teach the world what it ought to be. For such a purpose philosophy at least always comes too late. Philosophy, as the thought of the world, does not appear until reality has completed its formative process, and made itself ready. History thus corroborates the teaching of the conception that only in the maturity of reality does the ideal appear as counterpart to the real, apprehends the real world in its substance, and shapes it into an intellectual kingdom. When philosophy paints its grey in grey, one form of life has become old, and by means of grey it cannot be rejuvenated, but only known. The owl of Minerva takes its flight only when the shades of night are gathering.
Source: The Revolution Betrayed (1936), Ch. 4, Section 3 : The Rehabilitation of the Ruble
Comedy album A Wild and Crazy Guy
“Our life is our own to-day, to-morrow you will be dust, a shade, and a tale that is told. Live mindful of death; the hour flies.”
Nostrum est<br/>quod vivis, cinis et manes et fabula fies.<br/>vive memor leti, fugit hora.
Nostrum est
quod vivis, cinis et manes et fabula fies.
vive memor leti, fugit hora.
Satire V, line 151.
The Satires
