William B. Irvine Quotes
Best Quotes by William B. Irvine
“Diogenes believed hunger to be the best appetizer, and because he waited until he was hungry or thirsty before he ate or drank, he used to partake of a barley cake with greater pleasure than others did of the costliest of foods, and enjoyed a drink from a stream of running water more than others did their Thasian wine.”
“Pre-Socratic philosophy begins with the discovery of nature; Socratic philosophy begins with the discovery of man's soul.”
“We humans are unhappy in large part because we are insatiable; after working hard to get what we want, we routinely lose interest in the object of our desire. Rather than feeling satisfied, we feel a bit bored, and in response to this boredom, we go on to form new, even grander desires.”
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“Such is the trend of Nihilism. It occurs to no one to educate the masses to the level of true culture – that would be too much trouble, and possibly certain postulates for it are absent. On the contrary, the structure of society is to be levelled down to the standard of the populace.
General equality is to reign, everything is to be equally vulgar. The same way of getting money and the same pleasures to spend it on: panem et circenses – no more is wanted, no more would be understood.
Superiority, manners, taste, and every description of inward rank are crimes. Ethical, religious, national ideas, marriage for the sake of children, the family, State authority: all these are old-fashioned and reactionary.”
