Quotes from thinkers, old and new, about how the humanities relate to our lives.
No time for thinking
No time for thinking: does this observation, nearly two hundred years ago, still hold? On the restless impatience of American society, among both commentators and their public. Men who live in ages of equality have a [...]
The Convergence of the Twain
The Convergence of the Twain (Lines on the loss of the "Titanic"): a poet meditates on the fateful meeting of science, ambition, and nature I In a solitude of the sea Deep from human vanity, [...]
On science and the humanities, of and in the world
On science and the humanities, of and in the world: how closely related are the investigations of the sciences and the humanities? They may begin at a common origin, but they diverge and specialize with [...]
The scientist, the thinker, and the artist
The scientist, the thinker, and the artist: seeking truth though facts, ideas, and the shared but secret vision of humanity. A work that aspires, however humbly, to the condition of art should carry its justification [...]
East and West, healing and medicine
Contrasting the approaches in Eastern and Western medicine.
Civilization’s tricky situation
Civilization's tricky situation: as we enter the autumnal season, the shadow self would be heard, as the gateway to introspection. Here history and imagination are in play. The so-called civilized man has forgotten the trickster. He [...]
The costs of learning
The costs of learning: prudent parents have thought of better investments than financing the studies of their children I am thinking of something I heard in Bologna, where I was a student, from a certain honorable citizen, [...]
On Muslims living in Europe
On Muslims living in Europe: the past not only informs the present, but also expands our sense of the politically and culturally possible. Then I reached the country of Hungary, where the people called Bashghird [...]
Public service and religious faith
Public service and religious faith: a way that in life's darkest moments we may yet record the light of goodness. Hi little one, I only gave a hand to bring you out of that prison of rubble. Pardon us [...]
Forests of philosophy
Forests of philosophy: how our trail-blazing only leads to passing points of rest. No one like the path-finder himself feels the immensity of the forest, or knows the accidentality of his own trails. Columbus, dreaming of [...]