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“It is certainly human to make mistakes, but there are some human beings who make more than others, and they are called fools.”
― The Name of the Rose
― The Name of the Rose
“Alternatively, there are ‘political’ schools of history, slanted to discredit the actions of our past leaders, in order to support modern political movements. In all these cases, history is not an attempt to ascertain the truth, but a system of propaganda, devoted to the furtherance of modern projects, or the gratification of national vanity.
Men can scarcely be blamed for not learning from the history they are taught. There is nothing to learn from it, because it is not true.”
― The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival
Men can scarcely be blamed for not learning from the history they are taught. There is nothing to learn from it, because it is not true.”
― The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival
“I'm very gullible when it comes to my own words. I believe everything I say, though I know I am a liar.”
― Lord of Light
― Lord of Light
“Decadence is a moral and spiritual disease, resulting from too long a period of wealth and power, producing cynicism, decline of religion, pessimism and frivolity. The citizens of such a nation will no longer make an effort to save themselves, because they are not convinced that anything in life is worth saving.”
― The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival
― The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival
“Perhaps the most dangerous by-product of the Age of Intellect is the unconscious growth of the idea that the human brain can solve the problems of the world. Even on the low level of practical affairs this is patently untrue. Any small human activity, the local bowls club or the ladies’ luncheon club, requires for its survival a measure of self-sacrifice and service on the part of the members. In a wider national sphere, the survival of the nation depends basically on the loyalty and self‑sacrifice of the citizens. The impression that the situation can be saved by mental cleverness, without unselfishness or human self-dedication, can only lead to collapse.”
― The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival
― The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival
Shivaprasad’s 2025 Year in Books
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