Roger

“they found it easier to reject what they could not have than to admit the lack of it as a deficiency in themselves.”
― Richard Hofstadter, Anti-Intellectualism in American Life

“There seems to be such a thing as the generically prejudiced mind. Studies”
― Richard Hofstadter, Anti-Intellectualism in American Life

“Ideally, the pursuit of truth is said to be at the heart of the intellectual's business, but this credits his business too much and not quite enough. As with the pursuit of happiness, the pursuit of truth is itself gratifying whereas consummation often turns out to be elusive. Truth captured loses its glamour; truths long known and widely believed have a way of turning false with time; easy truths are bore and too many of them become half truths. Whatever the intellectual is too certain of, if he is healthily playful, he begins to find unsatisfactory. The meaning of his intellectual life lies not in the possession of truth but in the quest for new uncertainties. Harold Rosenberg summed up this side of the life of the mind supremely well when he said that the intellectual is one who turns answers into questions.”
― Richard Hofstadter, Anti-Intellectualism in American Life

“Once great men created fortunes; today a great system creates fortunate men.”
― Richard Hofstadter, Anti-Intellectualism in American Life