"Imperatives, ethical or esthetic, should be negative. Positive imperatives increase imposture."

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

"What a pity that he who steals a penny loaf should be hung, whilst he who steals thousands of the public money should be acquitted!"

— John Russell

Journalism1792–1878

#money

"There is but one way in which God should be loved, and that is to take no step except with Him and for Him, and to follow with a generous self-abandonment every thing which He requires."

— François Fénelon

Literature1651–1715

#love

"On November 8, 2002...National Public Radio’s All Things Considered aired a story by longtime correspondent Tom Gjelten. “A war against Iraq would begin with a bombing campaign, and the resources for …"

— Norman Solomon

Journalism1951

#writing

"Lastly, and doubtless always, but particularly at the end of the last century, certain scholars considered that since the appearances on our scale were finally the only important ones for us, there wa…"

— Jean Baptiste Perrin

1870–1942

#wisdom