Salvador De Madariaga Quotes & Sayings

Sermons seldom convert sinners; they sometimes goad them into more sin. — Salvador De Madariaga

Love has its roots in sex, but its foliage and flowers are in the pure light of spirit. — Salvador De Madariaga

He is free who knows how to keep in his own hands the power to decide at each step, the course of his life, and who lives in a society which does not block the exercise of that power. — Salvador De Madariaga

Your conscience is no defense against you sins; however, it can unfortunately deny you the pleasure of enjoying them. — Salvador De Madariaga

Considering how bad men are, it is wonderful how well they behave. — Salvador De Madariaga

The criminal excesses of unlimited capitalistic liberty had soon been checked thanks to the unlimited liberty of the press. — Salvador De Madariaga

He is free knows how to keep in his own hands the power to decide. — Salvador De Madariaga

Inequality is the inevitable consequence of liberty. — Salvador De Madariaga

My knowledge of myself is direct, synthetic, from within outwards; my knowledge of other persons is indirect, analytical, from outside inwards. My knowledge of myself starts at the core; that of others at the crust. — Salvador De Madariaga

Circumstances are the seeds of literature. — Salvador De Madariaga

The Anglo-Saxon conscience does not prevent the Anglo-Saxon from sinning, it merely prevents him from enjoying his sin. — Salvador De Madariaga

Action is the music of our life. Like music, it starts from a pause of leisure, a silence of activity which our initiative attacks; then it develops according to its inner logic, passes its climax, seeks its cadence, ends, and restores silence, leisure again. Action and leisure are thus interdependent; echoing and recalling each other, so that action enlivens leisure with its memories and anticipations, and leisure expands and raises action beyond its mere immediate self and gives it a permanent meaning. — Salvador De Madariaga

The ideal holiday for the truly active man is one doing nothing in beautiful surroundings ... and the ideal exercise for this best form of leisure is the old, natural, spontaneous movement of the body
the walk. — Salvador De Madariaga

The three creative prototypes, the scientist, the artist, and the saint, know instinctively, without the help of any mere philosopher, that each must obey an absolute rule of conduct. Three words established and hallowed by usage express the divinities, the values, the supreme aims served respectively by these three kinds of men with an undivided loyalty: truth for the scientist; beauty for the artist; goodness for the saint. The discussion on what these words mean will never end. We must be content with taking note of their clarity as symbols, and of the singular force which animates them and makes of them powerful poles of attraction. — Salvador De Madariaga

The American language differs from the English in that it seeks the top of expression while English seeks its lowly valleys. — Salvador De Madariaga

To-day, in more than half of Europe, man is at the mercy of the police; in 1900 even the most conservative and reactionary Prussian Junker would have been unable to imagine, let alone approve, that a citizen could be arrested and kept in prision at the pleasure of the Government. — Salvador De Madariaga

Art is the conveyance of spirit by means of matter. — Salvador De Madariaga

No one has ever succeeded in keeping nations at war except by lies. — Salvador De Madariaga

On the one hand, it is in and through creative minds that the community fulfils itself at its best and reaches its highest forms; and on the other, it is from them that the community recovers the social substance with which it had nourished them, transfigured by their creative alchemy into a still higher social substance. The creative evolution of his community and his own creative evolution must always be the two earnest purposes of the individual. Its own creative evolution and that of the individuals in its midst must always be the two earnest purposes of the community. — Salvador De Madariaga

A general must be shot or befriended - but never hurt. — Salvador De Madariaga

The best pastimes for a true enjoyer of leisure who has to stay at home ... : reading by the fireside ... Listening to music. — Salvador De Madariaga

Literature is an art, and the essence of all art is mood. — Salvador De Madariaga

The arts which need interpretation are the arts of time
music and poetry
and not the arts of space
sculpture and painting. — Salvador De Madariaga

Liberty of thought means liberty to communicate one's thought. — Salvador De Madariaga