“The pursuit of beauty is much more dangerous nonsense than the pursuit of truth or goodness, because it affords a stronger temptation to the ego.”
"Quotes", Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays (1957), Mythical Phase: Symbol as Archetype
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Northrop Frye 137
Canadian literary critic and literary theorist 1912–1991Related quotes
Source: Anti-Intellectualism in American Life (1974), p. 30
Letter to Adrianna Enriques (October 1921), p. 83
Attributed in posthumous publications, Albert Einstein: The Human Side (1979)
“Goodness is not the pursuit of conformity.”
First Public Talk at Ojai (7 April 1979) published in This Light in Oneself : True Meditation (1999), edited by Ray McCoy, p. 12
Variant rendition http://www.jkrishnamurti.org/krishnamurti-teachings/view-daily-quote/20100104.php: The essence of goodness is a mind that is not in conflict. Examine it, look at it. Goodness cannot flower through another, through a religious figure, through dogma, through belief, it can only flower in the soil of total attention in which there is no authority. You are following all this? Is this all too complex? And goodness implies great responsibility. You cannot be good and allow wars to take place. So a man that is really good is totally responsible for all his life.
1970s
Context: Goodness is not the pursuit of conformity. If you conform to a belief, to a concept, to an idea, to a principle, that is not good, because it creates conflict. Goodness cannot flower through another, through a religious figure, through dogma, through belief; it can only flower in the soil of total attention in which there is no authority. The essence of goodness is a mind that is not in conflict. And goodness implies great responsibility. You can't be good and allow wars to take place. So a person who is really good is totally responsible for his whole life.
"The Application of Thought to Textual Criticism", a lecture delivered on August 4, 1921
On Sudanese President Omar al Bashir's international arrest warrant. Sudan’s Bashir ‘cancelled visit to Tanzania’ http://thecitizen.co.tz/news/2-international-news/17958-sudans-bashir-cancelled-visit-to-tanzania
Popular Quotes, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, Journal Articles
“It’s better to be happy than in pursuit of it.”
Ron English's Fauxlosophy: Volume 2 (2022)
“Many have pursued honor, and in the pursuit lost more of it than ever they could gain.”
Source: The Chronicles of Prydain (1964–1968), Book IV: Taran Wanderer (1967), Chapter 21
Context: “When I was a child I dreamed of adventure, glory, honor in feats of arms. I think now that these things are shadows.”
“If you see them as shadows then you see them for what they are,” Annlaw agreed. “Many have pursued honor, and in the pursuit lost more of it than ever they could gain.”
“The pursuit of truth, properly considered, shouldn't stop short of insanity.”
Source: Radiolab episode "The Fact of the Matter" http://www.radiolab.org/2012/sep/24/in-the-valley-of-the-shadow-of-doubt/