History, as the study of the past, makes the coherence of what happened comprehensible by reducing events to a dramatic pattern and seeming them in a simple form. Johan Huizinga More Quotes by Johan Huizinga More Quotes From Johan Huizinga History can predict nothing except that great changes in human relationships will never come about in the form in which they have been anticipated. Johan Huizinga great-change form humans Nelson's famous signal before the Battle of Trafalgar was not: "England expects that every man will be a hero." It said: "Englandexpects that every man will do his duty." In 1805 that was enough. It should still be. Johan Huizinga battle hero men A crude mind could easily think: something is valid, therefore it is true. Johan Huizinga truth mind thinking He who wishes to maintain that the past of mankind no longer has any absolute value in lifemust also be ready to deny his ownlife until the present moment, indeed in advance until the last moment, as worthless. He who realizes that culture is the giving of form will also see that the highest forms that it is given to the human spirit to recognize have always been, psychologically considered, such evasions from the present. Considerations such as these do not at all square with the direction of America's mind. Johan Huizinga squares america past People accept a representation in which the elements of wish and fantasy are purposely included but which nevertheless proclaims to represent "the past" and to serve as a guide-rule for life, thereby hopelessly confusing the spheres of knowledge and will. Johan Huizinga truth people past You only live a short time... and you are dead a long time. Johan Huizinga long-time short-time long The slogan offers a counterweight to the general dispersion of thought by holding it fast to a single, utterly succinct and unforgettable expression, one which usually inspires men to immediate action. It abolishes reflection: the slogan does not argue, it asserts and commands. Johan Huizinga expression reflection men We have to transpose ourselves into this impressionability of mind, into this sensitivity to tears and spiritual repentance, intothis susceptibility, before we can judge how colorful and intensive life was then. Johan Huizinga judging spiritual history The second fundamental feature of culture is that all culture has an element of striving. Johan Huizinga elements fundamentals culture There are no instances known to me of cultures having forsaken Truth or renounced the understanding in its widest sense. Johan Huizinga understanding truth culture Physical nature lies at our feet shackled with a hundred chains. What of the control of human nature? Do not point to the triumphsof psychiatry, social services or the war against crime. Domination of human nature can only mean the domination of every man by himself. Johan Huizinga war mean lying An aristocratic culture does not advertise its emotions. In its forms of expression it is sober and reserved. Its general attitude is stoic. Johan Huizinga sober-up expression attitude It is an evil world. The fires of hatred and violence burn fiercely. Evil is powerful, the devil covers a darkened earth with hisblack wings. And soon the end of the world is expected. But mankind does not repent, the church struggles, and the preachers and poets warn and lament in vain. Johan Huizinga powerful struggle fire Today the average inhabitant of the western hemisphere knows a little of everything. He has the newspaper on his breakfast table and wireless within reach. For the evening there is the film, cards, or a meeting to complete a day spent in the office or factory where nothing that is essential has been learnt. With slight variation this picture of a low cultural average holds good over the entire range from factory-hand of clerk to manager or director. Only the personal will to culture, in whatever field and however pursued raises modern man above this level. Johan Huizinga average men hands From whichever angle one looks at it, the application of racial theories remains a striking proof of the lowered demands of public opinion upon the purity of critical judgment. Johan Huizinga public-opinion demand looks The things which can make life enjoyable remain the same. They are, now as before, reading, music, fine arts, travel, the enjoyment of nature, sports, fashion, social vanity (knightly orders, honorary offices, gatherings) and the intoxication of the senses. Johan Huizinga fashion music sports What the study of history and artistic creation have in common is a mode of forming images. Johan Huizinga common history art Without metaphor the handling of general concepts such as culture and civilization becomes impossible, and that of disease and disorder is the obvious one for the case in point. Is not crisis itself a concept we owe to Hippocrates? In the social and cultural domain no metaphor is more apt than the pathological one. Johan Huizinga disease civilization culture Systematic philosophical and practical anti-intellectualism such as we are witnessing appears to be something truly novel in the history of human culture. Johan Huizinga systematic philosophical culture Do you know anything that in all its innocence is more humiliating than the funny pages of a Sunday newspaper in America? Johan Huizinga pages sunday america
