Science has a simple faith, which transcends utility. Nearly all men of science, all men of learning for that matter, and men of s...imple ways too, have it in some form and in some degree. It is the faith that it is the privilege of man to learn to understand, and that this is his mission. If we abandon that mission under stress we shall abandon it forever, for stress will not cease. Knowledge for the sake of understanding, not merely to prevail, that is the essence of our being. None can define its limits, or set its ultimate boundaries.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
What vast additions to the conveniences and comforts of living might mankind have acquired, if the money spent in wars had been em...ployed in works of public utility; what an extension of agriculture even to the tops of our mountains; what rivers rendered navigable, or joined by canals; what bridges, aqueducts, new roads, and other public works, edifices, and improvements ... might not have been obtained by spending those millions in doing good, which in the last war have been spent in doing mischief.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The sceptics assert, though absurdly, that the origin of all religious worship was derived from the utility of inanimate objects, ...as the sun and moon, to the support and well-being of mankind.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Laughter and weeping, the Greek masks of comedy and tragedy, mark the extremes of a continuous spectrum; both provide channels for... the overflow of emotion; both are "luxury reflexes" without apparent utility. This much they have in common; in every other respect they are direct opposites.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Today the tyrant rules not by club or fist, but, disguised as a market researcher, he shepherds his flocks in the ways of utility ...and comfort.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Has the art of politics no apparent utility? Does it appear to be unqualifiedly ratty, raffish, sordid, obscene, and low down, and... its salient virtuosi a gang of unmitigated scoundrels? Then let us not forget its high capacity to soothe and tickle the midriff, its incomparable services as a maker of entertainment.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
No profession or occupation is more pleasing than the military; a profession or exercise both noble in execution (for the stronges...t, most generous and proudest of all virtues is true valour) and noble in its cause. No utility either more just or universal than the protection of the repose or defence of the greatness of one's country. The company and daily conversation of so many noble, young and active men cannot but be well-pleasing to you.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Fascism, the more it considers and observes the future and the development of humanity, quite apart from political considerations ...of the moment, believes neither in the possibility nor the utility of perpetual peace.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Moral sensibilities are nowadays at such cross-purposes that to one man a morality is proved by its utility, while to another its ...utility refutes it.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »