Those who sentimentally indulge humanity do it no favours. Terry Eagleton More Quotes by Terry Eagleton More Quotes From Terry Eagleton An enlightened trust in the sovereignty of human reason can be every bit as magical as the exploits of Merlin, and a faith in our capacity for limitless self-improvement just as much a wide-eyed superstition as a faith in leprechauns. Terry Eagleton superstitions improvement self Dawkins considers that all faith is blind faith, and that Christian and Muslim children are brought up to believe unquestioningly. Not even the dim-witted clerics who knocked me about at grammar school thought that. Terry Eagleton christian believe children Reading is not a straightforward linear movement, a merely cumulative affair: our initial speculations generate a frame of reference within which to interpret what comes next, but what comes next may retrospectively transform our original understanding, highlighting some features of it and backgrounding others. Terry Eagleton movement understanding reading It is silly to call fat people "gravitationally challenged", a self-righteous fetishism of language which is no more than a symptom of political frustration. Terry Eagleton frustration self silly Most poetry in the modern age has retreated to the private sphere, turning its back on the political realm. Terry Eagleton spheres political age There is an insuperable problem about introducing immigrants to British values. There are no British values. Nor are there any Serbian or Peruvian values. No nation has a monopoly on fairness and decency, justice and humanity. Terry Eagleton fairness humanity justice You can tell that the capitalist system is in trouble when people start talking about capitalism. Terry Eagleton literary-theory talking people The study of history and philosophy, accompanied by some acquaintance with art and literature, should be for lawyers and engineers as well as for those who study in arts faculties. Terry Eagleton literature philosophy art The Kantian imperative to have the courage to think for oneself has involved a contemptuous disregard for the resources of tradition and an infantile view of authority as inherently oppressive. Terry Eagleton tradition views thinking Evil is often supposed to be without rhyme or reason. Terry Eagleton rhyme evil reason Language, identity and forms of life are the terms in which political demands are shaped and voiced. Terry Eagleton demand political identity Today, nostalgia is almost as unacceptable as racism. Terry Eagleton nostalgia racism today Nothing in human life is inherently private. Terry Eagleton human-life humans life-is The past can be used to renew the present, not just to bury it. Terry Eagleton used past It is true that too much belief can be bad for your health. Terry Eagleton too-much belief Like the rest of us, Tom Paulin is a bundle of contradictions. At its finest, his work is brave, adventurous, original and wonderfully idiosyncratic. Terry Eagleton adventurous finest brave If it is true that we need a degree of certainty to get by, it is also true that too much of the stuff can be lethal. Terry Eagleton degrees stuff needs The British are supposed to be particularly averse to intellectuals, a prejudice closely bound up with their dislike of foreigners. Indeed, one important source of this Anglo-Saxon distaste for highbrows and eggheads was the French revolution, which was seen as an attempt to reconstruct society on the basis of abstract rational principles. Terry Eagleton prejudice important principles History works itself out by an inevitable internal logic. Terry Eagleton inevitable internals logic Most students of literature can pick apart a metaphor or spot an ethnic stereotype, but not many of them can say things like: 'The poem's sardonic tone is curiously at odds with its plodding syntax. Terry Eagleton syntax odds literature
