David Stove famous quotes

Last updated: Sep 5, 2024

But the stupidity which is common to all such "explanations" is, of course, simply that of proceeding as though the merits of a theory - such things as truth, or probability, or explanatory power - could not possibly be among the reasons for its currency.
-- David Stove

#Stupidity #Libertarian #Merit
If a lack of empirical foundations is a defect of the theory of logical probability, it is also a defect of deductive logic.
-- David Stove

#Foundation #Logic #Theory
People are mostly sane enough, of course, in the affairs of common life: the getting of food, shelter, and so on. But the moment they attempt any depth or generality of thought, they go mad almost infallibly. The vast majority, of course, adopt the local religious madness, as naturally as they adopt the local dress. But the more powerful minds will, equally infallibly, fall into the worship of some intelligent and dangerous lunatic, such as Plato, or Augustine, or Comte, or Hegel, or Marx.
-- David Stove

#Religious #Powerful #Plato
A philosopher may try to prove the truth of something he believed before he was a philosopher, but even if he succeeds, his belief never regain the untroubled character, and the settled place in his mind, which it had at first.
-- David Stove

#Character #Mind #Trying
We set ourselves to achieve a society that would be maximally tolerant. But that resolve not only gives maximum scope to the activities of those who have set themselves to achieve the maximally intolerant society. It also... paralyses our powers of resistance to them.
-- David Stove

#Giving #Would Be #Resistance

I do very well three things: my job, stupidities and children.
Stupidity is a personal achievement which transcends national boundaries.
It is easier for a libertarian to attack the science of global warming than to alter one's core libertarian beliefs.
I'm a Libertarian. I'm liberty, justice for all, liberty for all.
To demonize state authoritarianism while ignoring identical albeit contract-consecrated subservient arrangements in the large-scale corporations which control the world economy is fetishism at its worst.
I wear the chain I forged in life....I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it.
Libertarian: everyone leaves everyone else alone
Modesty is a valuable merit ... in people who have no other, and the appearance of it is extremely useful to those who have ...
The problem is if you really believe in a society where those who merit to get to the top, get to the top, youâ€™ll also, by implication â€¦ believe in a society where those who deserve to get to the bottom also get to the bottom and stay there.
Can words such as Orthodox, Jew, or Catholic really express some sort of exclusive personal virtues or merits?

David Stove famous quotes

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