"There is nothing more common than transforming a duty which inconveniences us into an "ethical problem."

Nicolás Gómez Dávila Philosophy See all quotes by Nicolás Gómez Dávila →

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More by Nicolás Gómez Dávila

“An individual declares himself a member of some group or other with the goal of demanding in its name what he is ashamed to claim in his own name.”

“No public cause deserves the unlimited allegiance of an intelligent man.”

“The enemies of myth are not the friends of reality but of triviality.”

“Genuine allegiance to an idea surpasses every psychological or social motivation.”

“The individual shrinks in proportion as the state grows.”

“To be intelligent without ideas is the privilege of the artist.”

Resonant Thoughts

"...my watchword if I were in office at this moment would be summed up in one single word—the word "efficiency." If we have not learned from this war that we have greatly lagged behind in efficiency we…"

— Archibald Primrose

1809–1851

#war

"But as I had forsaken the priests, so I left the separate preachers also, and those esteemed the most experienced people; for I saw there was none among them all that could speak to my condition. And …"

— George Fox

Religion1624–1691

#hope

"It is because the cosmos is meaningless that we must secure our individual illusions of values, direction, and interest by upholding the artificial streams which give us such worlds of salutary illusi…"

— H. P. Lovecraft

Literature1890–1937

#art

"I made a mistake with these stores; I didn't do it myself and it's wrong. So I've had to let people go and there's nothing I hate more than having to get rid of kids. It breaks their hearts. But you k…"

— Dov Charney

Business1969

#love