Reinhard Bendix quotes

“Men make their own history; but they make it under given conditions, and they become entangled thereby in a fate which is in part the result of other men having made their own history earlier.”
-- Reinhard Bendix

Source : Reinhard Bendix (1990). “Force, Fate, and Freedom: On Historical Sociology”, p.49, Univ of California Press

#Fate Quotes #Men Quotes #Results Quotes

“Looking backward always presents an overdetermined depiction of fate; by this perspective we leave out of focus the possibilities of action which existed at the time.”
-- Reinhard Bendix

Source : Reinhard Bendix (1990). “Force, Fate, and Freedom: On Historical Sociology”, p.56, Univ of California Press

#Fate Quotes #Perspective Quotes #Focus Quotes

“Reason is a necessary instrument, to be used for good or evil, but it has no moral qualities.”
-- Reinhard Bendix

Source : Reinhard Bendix (1989). “Embattled Reason: Essays on Social Knowledge”, p.187, Transaction Publishers

#Evil Quotes #Quality Quotes #Moral Quotes

“Wit is artificial; humor is natural. Wit is accidental; humor is inevitable. Wit is born of conscious effort; humor, of the allotted ironies of fate. Wit can be expressed only in language; humor can be developed sufficiently in situation.”

“Now the pessimist proper is the most modest of men. ... under no circumstances does he presume to imagine that he, a mere unit of pain, can in any degree change or soften the remorseless words of fate.”

“By not asking too much, you can believe in almost anything..like..a starry night in the mountains, or even the existence of fate.”

“Is it a particularly British trait to so utterly adore truly appalling men, from Tony Hancock through to Steptoe and Alf Garnett, Captain Mainwaring, Rigsby, Del Boy, Victor Meldrew and on to David Brent from The Office. The most deeply adored characters are all simply vile.”

“We always knew how to honor fallen soldiers. They were killed for our sake, they went out on our mission. But how are we to mourn a random man killed in a terrorist attack while sitting in a cafe? How do you mourn a housewife who got on a bus and never returned?”

“No one man is superior to the game.”

“Our first duty is to satisfy the spiritual master, who can arrange for the Lord's mercy. A common man must first begin to serve the spiritual master or the devotee. Then, through the mercy of the devotee, the Lord will be satisfied. Unless one receives the dust of a devotee's lotus feet on one's head, there is no possibility of advancement. Unless one approaches a pure devotee, he cannot understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”

“Therefore, since the world has still Much good, but much less good than ill, And while the sun and moon endure Luck's a chance, but trouble's sure, I'd face it as a wise man would, And train for ill and not for good.”

Source : A. E. Housman (2012). “A Shropshire Lad”, p.43, Courier Corporation

“If you want different results, do not do the same things.”

“We are the result of the stimulus we receive.”