Those who are filled with concern for the lot of humanity a… - Irving Babbitt

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Those who are filled with concern for the lot of humanity as a whole, especially for the less fortunate portions of it, are wont nowadays to call themselves idealists. We should at least recognize that ideals in this sense are not the same as standards and that they are often indeed the opposite of standards. It would be easy to mention institutions of learning in this country that are at present engaged in breaking down standards in the name of ideals.

Irving Babbitt

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About Irving Babbitt

Irving Babbitt (August 2, 1865 – July 15, 1933) was an American academic and literary critic, noted for his founding role in a movement that became known as the New Humanism.

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Richard M. Weaver Leo Strauss Reinhold Niebuhr José Ortega y Gasset Allan Bloom

Additional quotes by Irving Babbitt

The question I propose to consider is in what way one may justify the study of English on cultural and disciplinary, and not merely on sentimental or utilitarian, grounds. My own conviction is that if English is to be thus justified it must be primarily by what I am terming the discipline of ideas.

When the element of conversion with reference to a standard is eliminated from life, what remains is the irresponsible quest for thrills.

The true dualism I take to be the contrast between two wills, one of which is felt as vital impulse (élan vital) and the other as vital control (frein vital).

Those who are filled with concern for the lot of humanity as a whole, especially for the less fortunate portions of it, are wont nowadays to call the… - Irving Babbitt

About Irving Babbitt

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