American life is a powerful solvent. It seems to neutralize every intellectual element, however tough and alien it may be, and to fuse it in the native good will, complacency, thoughtlessness, and optimism. George Santayana More Quotes by George Santayana More Quotes From George Santayana Beautiful things, when taste is formed, are obviously and unaccountably beautiful. George Santayana taste beautiful beauty Facts are all accidents. They all might have been different. They all may become different. They all may collapse altogether. George Santayana different may knowledge What brings enlightenment is experience, in the sad sense of this word--the pressure of hard facts and unintelligible troubles, making a man rub his eyes in his waking dream, and put two and two together. Enlightenment is cold water. George Santayana eye dream men Emotion is primarily about nothing and much of it remains about nothing to the end. George Santayana emotional ends feelings To fight is a radical instinct; if men have nothing else to fight over they will fight over words, fancies, or women, or they will fight because they dislike each other's looks, or because they have met walking in opposite directions. George Santayana fighting opposites men Beware of long arguments and long beards. George Santayana beard advice long With an artist no sane man quarrels, any more than with the colour of a child's eyes. George Santayana eye artist children Men become superstitious, not because they have too much imagination, but because they are not aware that they have any. George Santayana superstitions imagination men Nothing can be meaner than the anxiety to live on, to live on anyhow and in any shape; a spirit with any honor is not willing to live except in its own way, and a spirit with any wisdom is not over-eager to live at all. George Santayana anxiety honor life Gnomic wisdom, however, is notoriously polychrome, and proverbs depend for their truth entirely on the occasion they are applied to. Almost every wise saying has an opposite one, no less wise, to balance it. George Santayana balance wise opposites Oaths are the fossils of piety. George Santayana swearing fossils promise Man is a gregarious animal, and much more so in his mind than in his body. He may like to go alone for a walk, but he hates to stand alone in his opinions. George Santayana hate animal men There is no greater stupidity or meanness than to take uniformity for an ideal. George Santayana meanness ideals stupidity Eternal vigilance is the price of knowledge. George Santayana eternal-vigilance vigilance eternal Never have I enjoyed youth so thoroughly as I have in my old age George Santayana youth inspiration age Historical investigation has for its aim to fix the order and character of events throughout past time and in all places. The task is frankly superhuman. George Santayana character order past It is a great bond to dislike the same things. George Santayana great-bond affinity dislike Since barbarism has its pleasures it naturally has its apologists. George Santayana barbarism pleasure All beauties are to be honored, but only one embraced. George Santayana honored beauty Better not be a hero than work oneself up into heroism by shouting lies. George Santayana shouting hero lying
