Leo Strauss :
Men are constantly attracted and deluded by two opposite charms: the charm of competence which is engendered by mathematics and everything akin to mathematics, and the charm of humble awe, which is engendered by meditation on the human soul and its experiences. Philosophy is characterized by the gentle, if firm, refusal to succumb to either charm. It is the highest form of the mating of courage and moderation. In spite of its highness or nobility, it could appear as Sisyphean or ugly, when one contrasts its achievement with its goal. Yet it is necessarily accompanied, sustained and elevated by eros. It is graced by nature's grace.
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Courage
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Love
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Philosophers and Philosophy
Gift it
 Baker_64x64.png "Quotations by Russell (Wayne) Baker")
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 Baker"e=I+went+to+the+Rayburn+Building+the+other+day+on+trifling+business.+It+was+an+appalling+experience.+I+had+forgotten+how+preposterous+the+thing+is+with+its+pretentious+megatonnage+of+rock+and+steel+spreading+acre+after+acre+down+the+slope+of+Capitol+Hill+in+sullen+defiance+to+eternity+and+man.%0AIt+dwarfs+the+forum+of+the+Caesars.+Mussolini+would+have+wept+in+envy.%0AInside%2C+one+is+compelled+to+dwell+upon+the+insignificance+of+humanity.+Not+a+single+tiny+wisp+of+beauty%2C+nothing+that+is+graceful%2C+or+charming%2C+or+eccentric%2C+or+human+presents+itself+to+the+senses.+Trying+to+imagine+Clay+and+Webster+in+this+celebration+to+the+death+of+the+spirit%2C+erected+to+the+glory+that+was+Congress%2C+is+an+exercise+in+comic+despair.%0AWhat+do+we+have%3F+Banks+of+stainless-steel+elevators.+Miracles+of+plumbing.+Corridors+of+cemetery+marble+stretching+to+far+horizons+under+the+most+artificial+light+millions+of+dollars+can+create%2C+a+light+that+abides+no+shadow%2C+grants+no+privacy%2C+tolerates+nothing+that+is+interesting+in+the+slightest+degree.%0AOccasionally+a+small+figure+appeared+in+the+distance%2C+grew+larger%2C+then+larger%2C+then+assumed+human+proportion%2C+then+passed+and+became+smaller%2C+and+smaller%2C+and+smaller.+Two+ants+had+passed+in+a+pyramid.%0A&image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwise.com%2FauthorIcons%2F518%2FRussell+%28Wayne%29+Baker_64x64.png){kind=link}
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