Before you contradict an old man, my fair friend, you should endeavor to understand him.

Quote by George Santayana

Topics: George Santayana Quotes

Sanity is a madness put to good uses

Sanity is a madness put to good uses

The great difficulty in education is to get experience out of ideas.

The great difficulty in education is to get experience out of ideas.

Half our standards come from our first masters, and the other half from our first...

Half our standards come from our first masters, and the other half from our first...

Each religion, so dear to those whose life it sanctifies, and fulfilling so necessary a...

Each religion, so dear to those whose life it sanctifies, and fulfilling so necessary a...

A child educated only at school is an uneducated child.

A child educated only at school is an uneducated child.

There is nothing to which men, while they have food and drink, cannot reconcile themselves.

There is nothing to which men, while they have food and drink, cannot reconcile themselves.

To delight in war is a merit in the soldier, a dangerous quality in the...

To delight in war is a merit in the soldier, a dangerous quality in the...

One's friends are that part of the human race with which one can be human.

One's friends are that part of the human race with which one can be human.

The world is not respectable; it is mortal, tormented, confused, deluded forever; but it is...

The world is not respectable; it is mortal, tormented, confused, deluded forever; but it is...

The existence of any evil anywhere at any time absolutely ruins a total optimism.

The existence of any evil anywhere at any time absolutely ruins a total optimism.

Parents lend children their experience and a vicarious memory; children endow their parents with a...

Parents lend children their experience and a vicarious memory; children endow their parents with a...

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

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

Culture is on the horns of this dilemma: if profound and noble it must remain...

Culture is on the horns of this dilemma: if profound and noble it must remain...

Almost every wise saying has an opposite one, no less wise, to balance it.

Almost every wise saying has an opposite one, no less wise, to balance it.

The highest form of vanity is love of fame.

The highest form of vanity is love of fame.

If pain could have cured us we should long ago have been saved.

If pain could have cured us we should long ago have been saved.

The superiority of the distant over the present is only due to the mass and...

The superiority of the distant over the present is only due to the mass and...

The effort of art is to keep what is interesting in existence, to recreate it...

The effort of art is to keep what is interesting in existence, to recreate it...

The tendency to gather and to breed philosophers in universities does not belong to ages...

The tendency to gather and to breed philosophers in universities does not belong to ages...

Music is essentially useless, as is life.

Music is essentially useless, as is life.