To be civilized is to be potentially master of all possible ideas, and that means that one has got beyond being shocked, although one preserves one's own moral aesthetic preferences.

Quote by Oliver Wendell Holmes

Topics: Oliver Wendell Holmes Quotes

A man's mind stretched by a new idea can never go back to its original...

A man's mind stretched by a new idea can never go back to its original...

A goose flies by a chart which the Royal Geographical Society could not mend.

A goose flies by a chart which the Royal Geographical Society could not mend.

The woman cries before the wedding; the man afterward.

The woman cries before the wedding; the man afterward.

Laughter and tears are meant to turn the wheels of the same machinery of sensibility;...

Laughter and tears are meant to turn the wheels of the same machinery of sensibility;...

Men do not quit playing because they grow old; they grow old because they quit...

Men do not quit playing because they grow old; they grow old because they quit...

Every event that a man would master must be mounted on the run, and no...

Every event that a man would master must be mounted on the run, and no...

Beauty is the index of a larger fact than wisdom.

Beauty is the index of a larger fact than wisdom.

Pretty much all the honest truth-telling there is in the world is done by children.

Pretty much all the honest truth-telling there is in the world is done by children.

Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than in the one where they...

Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than in the one where they...

A good and true woman is said to resemble a Cremona fiddle: age but increases...

A good and true woman is said to resemble a Cremona fiddle: age but increases...

For him in vain the envious seasons roll, Who bears eternal summer in his soul.

For him in vain the envious seasons roll, Who bears eternal summer in his soul.

There is something frightful in the way in which not only characteristic qualities, but particular...

There is something frightful in the way in which not only characteristic qualities, but particular...

The world is always ready to receive talent with open arms. Very often it does...

The world is always ready to receive talent with open arms. Very often it does...

A man may fulfill the object of his existence by asking a question he cannot...

A man may fulfill the object of his existence by asking a question he cannot...

Writing or printing is like shooting with a rifle; you may hit your reader's mind,...

Writing or printing is like shooting with a rifle; you may hit your reader's mind,...

Wisdom is the abstract of the past, but beauty is the promise of the future

Wisdom is the abstract of the past, but beauty is the promise of the future

Grow we must, if we outgrow all that loves us.

Grow we must, if we outgrow all that loves us.

Without wearing any mask we are conscious of, we have a special face for each...

Without wearing any mask we are conscious of, we have a special face for each...

To hear complaints with patience, even when complaints are vain, is one of the duties...

To hear complaints with patience, even when complaints are vain, is one of the duties...

Friendship consists in forgetting what one gives, and remembering what one receives.

Friendship consists in forgetting what one gives, and remembering what one receives.