Words&Dirt

“We need to become wiser than Socrates. Certainly ‘the unexamined life is not worth living,’ and certainly we should strive to ‘know thyself.’ And while the classic search in philosophy has been to figure out what it means to be human, Socrates was sometimes wrong in his search for the good life. Socrates loved Athens, which is well enough. After all, a human is, as Aristotle put it, a ‘political animal.’ We live in towns (Greek: polis), in social communities, and we cannot know who we are without an examination of the cultures that shape our humanity. But Socrates avoided nature, thinking it profitless: ‘You see, I am fond of learning. Now the country places and trees won’t teach me anything, and the people in the city do.’ We need to become more inclusive than Socrates: life in an unexamined world is not worth living either.”

––Moral Ground: Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril, “A Hinge Point of History,” by Holmes Rolston III, pg. 73-4

“The music described his whole life. He realized for the first time how full of sadness his existence was. He was surrounded by mean-spirited men and women who hated him and were secretly jealous of his talent. He knew now that every angry thought he had ever had was justified and that every generous thought was misplaced. His enemies were despicable and his friends were treacherous.”

––Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, by Susanna Clarke, pg. 461