Alex S

“...It would hardly be a waste of time if sometimes even the most advanced students in the cognitive sciences were to pay a visit to their ancestors. It is frequently claimed in American philosophy departments that, in order to be a philosopher, it is not necessary to revisit the history of philosophy. It is like the claim that one can become a painter without having ever seen a single work by Raphael, or a writer without having ever read the classics. Such things are theoretically possible; but the 'primitive' artist, condemned to an ignorance of the past, is always recognizable as such and rightly labeled as naïf. It is only when we consider past projects revealed as utopian or as failures that we are apprised of the dangers and possibilities for failure for our allegedly new projects. The study of the deeds of our ancestors is thus more than an atiquarian pastime, it is an immunological precaution.”
― Umberto Eco, The Search for the Perfect Language

“Бровь, нависающая над глазом, представляет собой своеобразное возвышение для направления взгляда по прямой линии.
Каково доказательство этого? Когда ты хочешь посмотреть вдаль и, согнув руку, приставляешь ее к бровям, ради чего ты так делаешь? Ради того, чтобы направленный ввысь взгляд случайно не рассеивался, но при помощи приложенной руки получал нужное направление и устремлялся вперед и, чтобы скорректированное таким образом зрение было более точным и острым. Благодаря прикладыванию руки взгляд направляется по нужному пути. Брови же одновременно и направляют взгляд, и не позволяют выступившему при тяжелой работе поту капать (на глаза) и мешать зрению. Вот почему брови служат своего рода защитной стеной.”
― Василий Великий, Hexaemeron

“Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by use of force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion in that it leaves behind in human beings at least a sense of unease. Against stupidity we are defenseless. Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict one’s prejudgment simply need not be believed – in such moments the stupid person even becomes critical – and when facts are irrefutable they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack. For that reason, greater caution is called for when dealing with a stupid person than with a malicious one. Never again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison

“On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.”
― Charles Babbage