We are not our own any more than what we possess is our own. We did not make ourselves, we cannot be supreme over ourselves. We are not our own masters. Aldous Huxley More Quotes by Aldous Huxley More Quotes From Aldous Huxley Words form the thread on which we string our experiences. Aldous Huxley thread strings form Man is hypnotized by the glitter of his own gadgetry Aldous Huxley glitter men Man is an amphibian who lives simultaneously in two worlds-the given and the home-made, the world of matter, life and consciousness and the world of symbols. Aldous Huxley two-worlds home men Art and religion, carnivals and saturnalia, dancing and listening to oratory - all these have served, in H. G. Wells's phrase, as Doors in the Wall. Aldous Huxley wall doors art The optimum population is modeled on the iceberg- eight-ninths below the water line, one-ninth above. Aldous Huxley brave-new-world eight water From their experience or from the recorded experience of others (history), men learn only what their passions and their metaphysical prejudices allow them to learn. Aldous Huxley passion men history What's the greatest enemy of Christianity to-day? Frozen meat. In the past only members of the upper classes were thoroughly sceptical, despairing, negative. Why? Among other reasons, because they were the only people who could afford to eat too much meat. Now there's cheap Canterbury lamb and Argentine chilled beef. Even the poor can afford to poison themselves into complete scepticism and despair. Aldous Huxley class people past I am I, and I wish I weren't. Aldous Huxley chaos wish What a gulf between impression and expression! That’s our ironic fate—to have Shakespearean feelings and (unless by some billion-to-one chance we happen to be Shakespeare) to talk about them like automobile salesmen or teen-agers or college professors. We practice alchemy in reverse—touch gold and it turns into lead; touch the pure lyrics of experience, and they turn into the verbal equivalents of tripe and hogwash. Aldous Huxley fate college expression But then people don't read literature in order to understand; they read it because they want to re-live the feelings and sensations which they found exciting in the past. Art can be a lot of things; but in actual practice, most of it is merely the mental equivalent of alcohol and cantharides. Aldous Huxley truth past art I am ignorant and impotent and yet, somehow or other, here I am, unhappy, no doubt, profoundly dissatisfied ... In spite of everything I survive. Aldous Huxley ignorant doubt here-i-am The traveller's-eye view of men and women is not satisfying. A man might spend his life in trains and restaurants and know nothing of humanity at the end. To know, one must be an actor as well as a spectator. Aldous Huxley eye views men Wherever we turn we find that the real obstacles to peace are human will and feeling, human convictions, prejudices, opinions. If we want to get rid of war we must get rid first of all of its psychological causes. Only when this has been done will the rulers of the nations even desire to get rid of the economic and political causes. Aldous Huxley political real war I want to know what passion is. I want to feel something strongly. Aldous Huxley passion want feels God isn't the son of Memory; He's the son of Immediate Experience. You can't worship a spirit in spirit, unless you do it now. Wallowing in the past may be good literature. As wisdom, it's hopeless. Time Regained is Paradise Lost, and Time Lost is Paradise Regained. Let the dead bury their dead. If you want to live at every moment as it presents itself, you've got to die to every other moment. Aldous Huxley memories past son Try LSD, 100mg intramuscular... I thought so. Aldous Huxley lsd last-words trying And there's always soma to calm your anger, to reconcile you to your enemies, to make you patient and long-suffering. In the past, you could only accomplish these things by making a great effort and after years of hard moral training. Now, you swallow two or three half-gramme tablets, and there you are. Anybody can be virtuous now. You can carry at least half your morality about in a bottle. Christianity without tears-that's what soma is. Aldous Huxley brave-new-world past years Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities. Aldous Huxley pursuit conscious happiness I like being myself. Myself and nasty. Aldous Huxley being-myself brave-new-world-happiness nasty It was one of those evenings when men feel that truth, goodness and beauty are one. In the morning, when they commit their discovery to paper, when others read it written there, it looks wholly ridiculous. Aldous Huxley good-morning truth men
