Carolina QuotesThe Ideal Man of the eighteenth century was the Rationalist; of the seventeenth, the Christian Stoic; of the Renaissance, the Free Individual; of the Middle Ages, the Contemplative Saint. And what is our Ideal Man? On what grand and luminous mythological figure does contemporary humanity attempt to model itself? The question is embarrassing. Nobody knows. And, in spite of all the laudable efforts of the Institute for Intellectual Co-operation to fabricate an acceptable Ideal Man for the use of Ministers of Education, nobody, I suspect, will know until such time as a major poet appears upon the scene with the unmistakable revelation. Meanwhile, one must be content to go on piping up for reason and realism and a certain decency.
Aldous Huxley Connected to the Carolinas
Source
p. 5
- work
- Texts and Pretexts (1932)
- year
- 1932
- locator
- p. 5
Cite this record
“The Ideal Man of the eighteenth century was the Rationalist;…” Aldous Huxley. Carolina Quotes, record CQ-6D9ECBF0A9. https://carolinaquotes.com/quote/6d9ecbf0a9
More from Aldous Huxley
I used to think I had no will to power. Now I perceive that I vented it on thoughts, rather than people. Conquering an unknown province of knowledge. Getting the better of a problem. Forcing ideas to associate or come apart. Bullying recalcitrant words to assume a certain pattern. All the fun of being a dictator without any risks and responsibilities.
Maybe this world is another planet's Hell.
"There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self. Your own self," he repeated. So you have to begin there, not outside, not on other people. That comes afterwards, when you've worked on your own corner.