“Mankind has become one, but not steadfastly one as communities or even nations used to be; not united through years of mutual experience, neither through possession of a single eye, affectionately called crooked, nor yet through a common native language, but, surpassing all barriers, through international broadcasting and print. An avalanche of events descends upon us — in one minute half the world hears of their splash. But the yardstick by which to measure those events and to evaluate them in accordance with the laws of unfamiliar parts of the world — this is not and cannot be conveyed via soundwaves and in newspaper columns. For these yardsticks were matured and assimilated over too many years of too specific conditions in individual countries and societies; they cannot be exchanged in mid-air. In the various parts of the world men apply their own hard-earned values to events, and they judge stubbornly, confidently, only according to their own scales of values and never according to any others.”

Nobel lecture (1970)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Sept. 28, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Mankind has become one, but not steadfastly one as communities or even nations used to be; not united through years of …" by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn?
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn photo
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 120
Russian writer 1918–2008

Related quotes

Thomas Moore photo

“Take all the pleasures of all the spheres,
And multiply each through endless years,—
One minute of heaven is worth them all.”

Thomas Moore (1779–1852) Irish poet, singer and songwriter

Lalla Rookh http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00generallinks/lallarookh/index.html (1817), Part IV: Paradise and the Peri

Michelle Wu photo
Immanuel Kant photo

“Through failures one becomes intelligent; but the one who has trained himself in this subject so that he can make others wise through their own failures, has used his intelligence. Ignorance is not stupidity.”

Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) German philosopher

Kant, Immanuel (1996), page 100
Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View (1798)

Théodore Guérin photo

“Woman in this country is only yet one fourth of the family. I hope that, through the influence of religion and education, she will eventually become at least one half the "better half."”

Théodore Guérin (1798–1856) Catholic saint and nun from France

To Mother Mary, Superior General, Ruille-sur-Loir, 1852-02-18.
Context: ... they wish to make us pay taxes, which is contrary to the laws of the State. We refuse positively. It embarrasses them a little to have women resist them and speak to them about the law. Woman in this country is only yet one fourth of the family. I hope that, through the influence of religion and education, she will eventually become at least one half the "better half."

Paulo Freire photo

“All the events of your past have formed a lens, or paradigm, through which you see the world. And since no one's past is exactly like anyone else's, no two people see alike.”

Sean Covey (1964) author; business executive

Source: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens: The Ultimate Teenage Success Guide

Jane Roberts photo
Ralph Steadman photo
Oscar Wilde photo

Related topics