"Our dignity is not in what we do, but in what we understand."

George Santayana Literature See all quotes by George Santayana →

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More by George Santayana

“Eternal vigilance is the price of knowledge.”

“American life is a powerful solvent. As it stamps the immigrant, almost before he can speak English, with an unmistakable muscular tension, cheery self-confidence and habitual challenge in the voice and eyes, so it seems to neutralize every intellectual element, however tough and alien it may be, and to fuse it in the native good-will, complacency, thoughtlessness, and optimism.”

“The soul, too, has her virginity and must bleed a little before bearing fruit.”

“It is not society's fault that most men seem to miss their vocation. Most men have no vocation.”

“Skepticism, like chastity, should not be relinquished too readily.”

“Perhaps the only true dignity of man is his capacity to despise himself.”

Resonant Thoughts

"That means temporary borrowings. People have to understand that because there's going to be the usual political shit storm, sorry, political storm."

— Kevin Rudd

Politics1957

#knowledge

"Those who say a demonstration should be concerned with education rather than theater don't understand either and will never organize a successful demonstration, or for that matter, a successful revolu…"

— Abbie Hoffman

Politics1936–1989

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"Anthroposophy is a path of knowledge, to guide the spiritual in the human being to the spiritual in the universe... Anthroposophists are those who experience, as an essential need of life, certain que…"

— Rudolf Steiner

Philosophy1861–1925

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"As for acquiescing in what a man understands not, or cannot reconcile to his reason, they know best the fruits of it that practice it. For my part, I'm a stranger to it, and cannot reconcile myself to…"

— John Toland

Literature1670–1722

#knowledge