Tao Te Ching
Ortega y Gassett, José
1883 – 1955 CE
Spanish philosopher, historian, and essayist
A professor of Philosophy, Ethics and Logic during his early life, he later began publishing newspaper essays which quickly made him internationally famous. He then branched out into politics supporting socialist candidates but because discouraged by the support for Franko who he strongly opposed. He also opposed the the Spanish Conservative Party, the Spanish monarchy and the Catholic Church but historians still consider him anti-democratic and conservative — a not surprising dichotomy about someone so against rigid belief systems and conformity, someone dedicated to his dictim, "I am me and my circumstance."
Blending another common dichotomy, fate vs. freedom, he explained how fate determines the number of possibilities we have while freedom offers us the possibility of choosing between them creating our own "destiny" instead of hiding behind roles, cultural identities, and conventional ways of living our lives.
Lineages
Hispanic Historians / Journalists
Eras
Western
Post-Romantic Age (1850 – 2018 CE)Great Depression (1929 – 1941 CE)
Roaring Twenties (1920 – 1929 CE)
Chinese
Qing dynasty (1644 – 1912 CE)Generations
The Lost Generation (1883 – 1900 CE)Unlisted Sources
The Dehumanization of Art
The Revolt of the Masses (1929)
Time Magazine, 1955
Quotes by Ortega y Gassett, José (10 quotes)
“I am I plus my circumstances.”
from Time Magazine, 1955
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“An 'unemployed' existence is a worse negation of life than death itself.”
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“Nineteenth-century capitalism has demoralized humanity... impoverished the ethical consciousness of man.”
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“Diogenes, in his mud-covered sandals, tramps over the carpets of Aristippus. The cynic pullulated at every corner, and in the highest places. This cynic did nothing but sabotage the civilization of the time. He was the nihilist of Hellenism. He created nothing, he made nothing. His role was to undo — or rather to attempt to undo, for he did not succeed in his purpose.”
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“The cynic, a parasite of civilization, lives by denying it, for the very reason that he is convinced that it will not fail. What would become of the cynic among a savage people where everyone, naturally and quite seriously, fulfills what the cynic farcically considers to be his personal role?”
from The Revolt of the Masses (1929)
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“Our firmest convictions are apt to be the most suspect, they mark our limitations and bounds.”
from The Dehumanization of Art
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“Life is a petty thing unless it is moved by the indomitable urge to extend its boundaries,”
from The Dehumanization of Art
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“In times of great passion, the duty of the intellectual is to remain silent because in times of passion one has to lie and the intellectual has no right to lie.”
from Time Magazine, 1955
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“The mass crushes beneath it everything that is different... Anybody who is not like everybody, who does not think like everybody, runs the risk of being eliminated.”
from The Revolt of the Masses (1929)
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“Our horizon is a biological line, a living part of our organism. In times of fullness of life it expands... When the horizon stiffens, it is because it has become fossilized and we are growing old.”
from The Dehumanization of Art
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