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Single Idea 19608
[filed under theme 1. Philosophy / A. Wisdom / 3. Wisdom Deflated
]
Full Idea
Wisdom is the last word of an expiring civilization, the nimbus of historic twilights, fatigue transfigured into a vision of the world, the last tolerance before the advent of newer gods, and of barbarism. A vain attempt at melody among the death rattles.
Gist of Idea
Wisdom is just the last gasp of a dying civilization
Source
E.M. Cioran (A Short History of Decay [1949], 1 'Twilight')
Book Ref
Cioran,E.M.: 'A Short History of Decay', ed/tr. Howard,Richard [Penguin 2010], p.36
A Reaction
I didn't quite get what he said there, but I picked up the tone all right. But I thought wisdom was something sought in the early stages of western civilization, and now relegated to the wings as an idle dream?
The
16 ideas
with the same theme
[doubts about the high status of wisdom]:
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291
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Don't assume that wisdom is the automatic consequence of old age
[Plato]
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7893
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Our life is the creation of our mind
[Anon (Dham)]
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8766
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In much wisdom is much grief
[Anon (Ecc)]
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20815
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No wise man has yet been discovered
[Stoic school, by Cicero]
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6263
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No wisdom could make us comfortably walk a wide beam if it was high in the air
[Montaigne]
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8093
|
Seek wisdom rather than truth; it is easier
[Joubert]
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7170
|
'Wisdom' attempts to get beyond perspectives, making it hostile to life
[Nietzsche]
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14890
|
Suffering is the meaning of existence
[Nietzsche]
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18290
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But what is the reasoning of the body, that it requires the wisdom you seek?
[Nietzsche]
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19608
|
Wisdom is just the last gasp of a dying civilization
[Cioran]
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23064
|
So-called wisdom is just pondering things instead of acting
[Cioran]
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9764
|
Inspiration and social improvement need wisdom, but not professional philosophy
[Quine]
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9247
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Life will be lived better if it has no meaning
[Camus]
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3240
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There is more insight in fundamental perplexity about problems than in their supposed solutions
[Nagel]
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7490
|
Because of Darwin, wisdom as a definite attainable state has faded
[Watson]
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19695
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The devil was wise as an angel, and lost no knowledge when he rebelled
[Whitcomb]
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