WIST Quotations

Rubin, Theodore Isaac -- The Angry Book, “Let Freedom Ring” (1970)

Dave — Mon, 17 May 2021 19:19:36 +0000

Health is relative. There is no such thing as an absolute state of health or sickness. Everyone’s physical, mental, and emotional condition is a combination of both.

Theodore Isaac Rubin (1923–2019) American psychiatrist and author
The Angry Book, “Let Freedom Ring” (1970)
(Source)

Zunger, Yonatan -- “Tolerance is not a moral precept” (2 Jun 2017)

Dave — Wed, 23 Aug 2017 01:50:33 +0000

Tolerance is not a moral absolute; it is a peace treaty.

Yonatan Zunger (b. 1977) American essayist, software engineer, physicist, ethicist
“Tolerance is not a moral precept” (2 Jun 2017)
(Source)

Tawney, R. H. -- The Acquisitive Century, ch. 4 “The Nemesis of Industrialism” (1920)

Dave — Thu, 09 Feb 2017 20:58:22 +0000

A right should not be absolute for the same reason that a power should not be absolute.

R. H. Tawney (1880–1962) English writer, economist, historian, social critic [Richard Henry Tawney]
The Acquisitive Century, ch. 4 “The Nemesis of Industrialism” (1920)
(Source)

See Lord Acton.

Schlesinger, Arthur -- “The Opening of the American Mind,” New York Times (23 Jul 1989)

Dave — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 12:52:12 +0000

It is this belief in absolutes, I would hazard, that is the great enemy today of the life of the mind. This may seem a rash proposition. The fashion of the time is to denounce relativism as the root of all evil. But history suggests that the damage done to humanity by the relativist is far less than the damage done by the absolutist — by the fellow who, as Mr. Dooley once put it, “does what he thinks th’ Lord wud do if He only knew th’ facts in th’ case.”

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (1917–2007) American historian, author, social critic
“The Opening of the American Mind,” New York Times (23 Jul 1989)

Santayana, George -- The Life of Reason or The Phases of Human Progress, vol. 2 “Reason in Society,” ch. 4 “The Aristocratic Ideal” (1905-06)

Dave — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:19:13 +0000

Injustice in this world is not something comparative; the wrong is deep, clear, and absolute in each private fate.

George Santayana (1863–1952) Spanish-American poet and philosopher [Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruíz de Santayana y Borrás]
The Life of Reason or The Phases of Human Progress, vol. 2 “Reason in Society,” ch. 4 “The Aristocratic Ideal” (1905-06)