Education to perfect gentlemanship, to human excellence, liberal education consists in reminding oneself of human excellence, of human greatness. - Leo Strauss

The problem inherent in the surface of things, and only in the surface of things, is the heart of things.

The purpose of Plato, or of Aristotle, as Fārābī conceived of it, is sufficiently revealed in this seemingly conventional praise of philosophy.

Spinoza was I think a cool, not to say cold, man. His posture toward revealed religion — in particular, Judaism — was simple contempt for the confused ideas underlying revealed religion [which he regarded as] nonsense. His posture I believe is [more] that of the cocksure unbelieving scientist than that of any man of an inner tragedy.