I'm on the road this week so I got to spend some time in my current book - The Story of Philosophy - sitting on the tarmac waiting to take off. I bit more weighty than my usual fare, but it has given me some good stuff to think about. Here are a few such things:
Money may be the husk of many things, but not the kernel. It brings you food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; acquaintances, but not friends; servants, but not faithfulness; days of joy, but not peace or happiness.
~ Henrik Ibsen (actually from my Sunday School reading)
Blessedness is not the reward of virtue, but virtue itself.
~ Spinoza
Men who are good by reason desire nothing for themselves which they do not also desire for the rest of mankind. To be great is not to be placed above humanity, ruling others; but to stand above the partialities and futilities of uniformed desire, and to rule one's self.
~Spinoza
It is to him who masters our minds by the force of truth, and not to those who enslave them by violence, that we owe our reverence.
~ Voltaire
Morality is not properly the doctrine of how we may make ourselves happy, but how we may make ourselves worthy of happiness. Let us seek happiness in others; but for ourselves, perfection - whether it bring us happiness or pain.
~Kant
When mere creeds or ceremonies usurp priority over moral excellence as a test of religion, religion has disappeared.
~Kant
Look at me - I actually want to read Voltaire and Kant and wish I had the intellectual horsepower to make it through Spinoza. I'm sure it will quickly wear off and the next time you see me I'll be reading some low brow paperback.
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