Irving Babbitt Quotes & Sayings (Page 2)

“Yet Aristotle's excellence of substance, so far from being associated with the grand style, is associated with something that at times comes perilously near jargon.”

“According to the new ethics, virtue is not restrictive but expansive, a sentiment and even an intoxication.”

“The humanities need to be defended today against the encroachments of physical science, as they once needed to be against the encroachment of theology.”

“Perhaps as good a classification as any of the main types is that of the three lusts distinguished by traditional Christianity - the lust of knowledge, the lust of sensation, and the lust of power.”

“If a man went simply by what he saw, he might be tempted to affirm that the essence of democracy is melodrama.”

“Since every man desires happiness, it is evidently no small matter whether he conceives of happiness in terms of work or of enjoyment.”

“The democratic idealist is prone to make light of the whole question of standards and leadership because of his unbounded faith in the plain people.”

“The true humanist maintains a just balance between sympathy and selection.”

“Furthermore, America suffers not only from a lack of standards, but also not infrequently from a confusion or an inversion of standards.”

“A democracy, the realistic observer is forced to conclude, is likely to be idealistic in its feelings about itself, but imperialistic about its practice.”