Arthur Koestler
genius perfection originality frontiers
“The principal mark of genius is not perfection but originality, the opening of new frontiers.”
― Arthur Koestler (1905-1983)
creative activity teacher learning pupil same individual
“Creative activity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.”
― Arthur Koestler (1905-1983)
sad death illusion
“Nothing is more sad than the death of an illusion.”
― Arthur Koestler (1905-1983)
creativity defeat habit originality
“Creativity is the defeat of habit by originality.”
― Arthur Koestler (1905-1983)
original discovery obvious afterwards
“The more original a discovery, the more obvious it seems afterwards.”
― Arthur Koestler (1905-1983)
principle end justify means political ethics vague chatter
“The principle that the end justifies the means is and remains the only rule of political ethics; anything else is just a vague chatter and melts away between one’s fingers.”
― Arthur Koestler (1905-1983)
aim way ends means entangled path
“Show us not the aim without the way.
For ends and means on earth are so entangled
That changing one, you change the other too;
Each different path brings other ends in view”
― Arthur Koestler (1905-1983)
discovery psychological roadblock reality
“Some of the greatest discoveries...consist mainly in the clearing away of psychological roadblocks which obstruct the approach to reality; which is why,post factum they appear so obvious.”
― Arthur Koestler (1905-1983)
man live idea death individual species
“Hitherto man had to live with the idea of death as an individual; from now onward mankind will have to live with the idea of its death as a species.”
― Arthur Koestler (1905-1983)
technical progress intellectual political self-government
“Every jump of technical progress leaves the relative intellectual development of the masses a step behind, and thus causes a fall in the political-maturity thermometer. It takes sometimes tens of years, sometimes generations, for a people’s level of understanding gradually to adapt itself to the changed state of affairs, until it has recovered the same capacity for self-government as it had already possessed at a lower stage of civilization.”
― Arthur Koestler (1905-1983)
resistance innovation professionals tradition monopoly learning
“Resistance to innovation is clearly demonstrated, not by the ignorant masses, but by professionals with a vested interest in tradition and the monopoly of learning.”
― Arthur Koestler (1905-1983)
language barrier screen thinker reality creativity
“Language can become a screen which stands between the thinker and reality. This is the reason why true creativity often starts where language ends.”
― Arthur Koestler (1905-1983)
scientist peeping toms keyhole eternity
“Scientists are peeping toms at the keyhole of eternity.”
― Arthur Koestler (1905-1983)
asking right question time
“Much depends on asking the right question at the right time.”
― Arthur Koestler (1905-1983)
sadist kind masochist
“A sadist is a person who is kind to a masochist.”
― Arthur Koestler (1905-1983)
brain-washing starts cradle
“Brain-washing starts in the cradle.”
― Arthur Koestler (1905-1983)
revolutionary theory dogmatic cult cathecism high priest mass
“Revolutionary theory had frozen to a dogmatic cult, with a simplified, easily graspable catechism, and with No. 1 as the high priest celebrating the Mass.”
― Arthur Koestler (1905-1983)
courage action influenced fears
"Courage is never to let your actions be influenced by your fears"
― Arthur Koestler (1905-1983)
evil agressive individual low intelligence high emotionality
"The evils of mankind are caused, not by the primary aggressiveness of individuals, but by their self-transcending identification with groups whose common denominator is low intelligence and high emotionality."
― Arthur Koestler (1905-1983)
wars territory words weapon language slogan epidemic group-mind
"Wars are not fought for territory, but for words. Man's deadliest weapon is language. He is as susceptible to being hypnotized by slogans as he is to infectious diseases. And where there is an epidemic, the group-mind takes over."
― Arthur Koestler (1905-1983)
men unit political arithmetic zero infinite dislocate mathematic
"Men cannot be treated as units in operations of political arithmetic because they behave like the symbols for zero and the infinite , which dislocate all mathematical operations."
― Arthur Koestler (1905-1983)
persistent sound history mankind war drums
"The most persistent sound which reverberates through man's history is the beating of war drums."
― Arthur Koestler (1905-1983)
progress science desert trail skeletons theory doctrine life
"The progress of science, like an ancient desert trail, is strewn with the bleached skeletons of discarded theories, doctrines, and axioms which seemed to possess eternal life."
― Arthur Koestler (1905-1983)
innovation threat academic mediocrity authority collapse
"Innovation is a twofold threat to academic mediocrities: it endangers their oracular authority, and it evokes the deeper fear that their whole, laboriously constructed intellectual edifice might collapse."
― Arthur Koestler (1905-1983)