Quotes and thoughts for the day

Carol Dee

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Pulsegleaner

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Carl L. Becker, President of the American Historical Association 1931:

Berate him as we will for not reading our books, Mr. Everyman is stronger than we are, and sooner or later we must adapt our knowledge to his necessities. Otherwise he will leave us to our own devices, leave us it may be to cultivate a species of dry professional arrogance growing out of the thin soil of antiquarian research. Such research, valuable not in itself but for some ulterior purpose, will be of little import except in so far as it is transmuted into common knowledge. The history that lies inert in unread books does no work in the world.
This is sort of why I always got angry at the story about the time Socrates threw a student out of his Academy for having a "base and unrefined soul" just because he asked if there were practical uses geometry could be put to. In Socrates's view, loving knowledge meant never debasing it by actually trying to APPLY it.
 

digitS'

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I have posted this before but this is what I feel is especially a sad and pertinent meaning that one can take from that Becker quote. And, Aldous Huxley said it best:

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Marie2020

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@digitS' Good quote 👌


My humble quote...

We once were taught valuable solutions from elders and in turn they learned valuable lessons from their elders before them.

Sadly today, all wisdom and lesson's learned are conveniently dismissed and with time forgotten
 
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flowerbug

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"It is better to have tried and failed than to have failed to try, but the result's the same." - Mike Dennison

i don't agree with the conclusion that the result is the same because if you have tried and failed you have likely learned something from the experience...
 

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