“The heresies we should fear are those which can be confused with orthodoxy.”
The Theologians, translated by James E. Irby (1964)
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Jorge Luis Borges213
Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator… 1899–1986Related quotes
William James (1842–1910) American philosopher, psychologist, and pragmatist
"The Moral Philosopher and the Moral Life", International Journal of Ethics (April 1891)
1890s, The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy (1897)
Context: There is but one unconditional commandment, which is that we should seek incessantly, with fear and trembling, so to vote and to act as to bring about the very largest total universe of good which we can see. Abstract rules indeed can help; but they help the less in proportion as our intuitions are more piercing, and our vocation is the stronger for the moral life. For every real dilemma is in literal strictness a unique situation; and the exact combination of ideals realized and ideals disappointed which each decision creates is always a universe without a precedent, and for which no adequate previous rule exists.
Jacob Bronowski (1908–1974) Polish-born British mathematician
Part 3: "The Sense of Human Dignity", §6 (p. 63–64)
Science and Human Values (1956, 1965)
Context: Tolerance among scientists cannot be based on indifference, it must be based on respect. Respect as a personal value implies, in any society, the public acknowledgements of justice and of due honor. These are values which to the layman seem most remote from any abstract study. Justice, honor, the respect of man for man: What, he asks, have these human values to do with science? [... ]
Those who think that science is ethically neutral confuse the findings of science, which are, with the activity of science, which is not.
Mervyn Peake book Titus Groan
Source: Titus Groan (1946), Chapter 59 “Presage” (p. 320)
Hubert Reeves (1932) Canadian astrophysicist and popularizer of science
Hubert Reeves (1984) Atoms of silence: an exploration of cosmic evolution Massachusetts Institute of Technology. p. 23
Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) 3rd President of the United States of America
Letter to Judge John Tyler http://www.constitution.org/tj/jeff11.txt (June 28, 1804); in: The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Memorial Edition (ME) (Lipscomb and Bergh, editors), 20 Vols., Washington, D.C., 1903-04, Volume 11, page 33 <br class="br">1800s, First Presidential Administration (1801&ndash;1805)
Tom Waits (1949) American singer-songwriter and actor
Interview All Songs Considered, NPR, May 20, 2008