The past is interesting not only for the beauty which the artists for whom it was the present were able to extract from it, but al...so as past, for its historical value. The same goes for the present. The pleasure which we derive from the representation of the present is due not only to the beauty in which it may be clothed, but also from its essential quality of being present.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
To me it seems the man can see neither deep nor far, who is not sensible of his own misery, sinfulness, and dependence; who doth n...ot perceive, that this present world is not designed or adapted to make rational souls happy; who would not be glad of getting into a better state, and who would not be overjoyed to find, that the road leading thither was the love of God and man, the practising every virtue, the living reasonably while we are here upon earth, proportioning our esteem to the value of things, and so using this world as not to abuse it, for this is what Christianity requires.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
He who wishes to maintain that the past of mankind no longer has any absolute value in life ... must also be ready to deny his own... life until the present moment, indeed in advance until the last moment, as worthless. He who realizes that culture is the giving of form will also see that the highest forms that it is given to the human spirit to recognize have always been, psychologically considered, such evasions from the present. Considerations such as these do not at all square with the direction of America's mind.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Every sign is subject to the criteria of ideological evaluation.... The domain of ideology coincides with the domain of signs. The...y equate with one another. Wherever a sign is present, ideology is present, too. Everything ideological possesses semiotic value.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
It is very considerably smaller than Australia and British Somaliland put together. As things stand at present there is nothing mu...ch the Texans can do about this, and ... they are inclined to shy away from the subject in ordinary conversation, muttering defensively about the size of oranges.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
To complain of the age we live in, to murmur at the present possessors of power, to lament the past, to conceive extravagant hopes... of the future, are the common dispositions of the greatest part of mankind.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
What if this present were the world's last night? Mark in my heart, O Soul, where thou dost dwell,... The picture of Christ crucified, and tell Whether that countenance can thee affright,LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The present generation, wearied by its chimerical efforts, relapses into complete indolence. Its condition is that of a man who ha...s only fallen asleep towards morning: first of all come great dreams, then a feeling of laziness, and finally a witty or clever excuse for remaining in bed.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The product of mental labor--science--always stands far below its value, because the labor-time necessary to reproduce it has no r...elation at all to the labor-time required for its original production.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The primary function of myth is to validate an existing social order. Myth enshrines conservative social values, raising tradition... on a pedestal. It expresses and confirms, rather than explains or questions, the sources of cultural attitudes and values.... Because myth anchors the present in the past it is a sociological charter for a future society which is an exact replica of the present one.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »