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To agree without understanding is inane. To disagree without understanding is impudent.

Mortimer Adler

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Mortimer Adler
Age: 98 †
Born: 1902
Born: December 28
Died: 2001
Died: June 28
Philosopher
Teacher
University Teacher
Writer
New York City
New York
Mortimer J. Adler
Mortimer Adler
Impudent
Disagree
Agree
Understanding
Without
Inane

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Ask others about themselves, at the same time, be on guard not to talk too much about yourself.
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Wonder is the beginning of wisdom in learning from books as well as from nature.
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My chief reason for choosing Christianity was because the mysteries were incomprehensible. What's the point of revelation if we could figure it out ourselves? If it were wholly comprehensible, then it would just be another philosophy.
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There is no more irritating fellow than the man who tries to settle an argument about communism, or justice, or liberty, by quoting from Webster.
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More consequences for thought and action follow the affirmation or denial of God than from answering any other basic question.
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Let me roughly divide books into those which compete with the movies and those with which the movies cannot compete. They are the books that can elevate or instruct. If they are fine works of fiction, they can deepen your appreciation of human life. If they are serious works of nonfiction, they can inform or enlighten you.
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The person who says he knows what he thinks but cannot express it usually does not know what he thinks.
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The telephone book is full of facts, but it doesn't contain a single idea.
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The love which moves the world, according to common Christian belief, is God's love and the love of God.
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Habits are formed by the repetition of particular acts. They are strengthened by an increase in the number of repeated acts. Habits are also weakened or broken, and contrary habits are formed by the repetition of contrary acts.
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In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but how many can get through to you.
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Unless we love and are loved, each of us is alone, each of us is deeply lonely.
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Love can be unselfish, in the sense of being benevolent and generous, without being selfless.
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True freedom is impossible without a mind made free by discipline.
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Love consists in giving without getting in return in giving what is not owed, what is not due the other. That's why true love is never based, as associations for utility or pleasure are, on a fair exchange.
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There are genuine mysteries in the world that mark the limits of human knowing and thinking. Wisdom is fortified, not destroyed, by understanding its limitations. Ignorance does not make a fool as surely as self-deception.
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The teacher's role in discussion is to keep it going along fruitful lines - be moderating, guiding, correcting and arguing like one more students.
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Political democracy cannot flourish under all economic conditions. Democracy requires an economic system which supports the political ideals of liberty and equality for all. Men cannot exercise freedom in the political sphere when they are deprived of it in the economic sphere.
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If a book is easy and fits nicely into all your language conventions and thought forms, then you probably will not grow much from reading it. It may be entertaining, but not enlarging to your understanding. It’s the hard books that count. Raking is easy, but all you get is leaves digging is hard, but you might find diamonds.
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Love wishes to perpetuate itself. Love wishes for immortality.
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