George MacDonald Quotes

I would rather be the offspring of two apes than be a man and afraid to face the truth.

To deny that human beings are filled with anti-social passions betrays a denial of reality and a lack of self-awareness. One has to be taught nonsense for a great many formative years to believe it.

We should not be upset that others hide the truth from us, when we hide it so often from ourselves

The human being is a strange mixture of blind instinct, on one hand, and conscience, on the other.

People are animals, man.

We are not responsible for what we do; we are ignorant of our acts until we accomplish them.

It is dangerous to explain too clearly to man how like he is to the animals without pointing out his greatness. It is also dangerous to make too much of his greatness without his vileness. It is still more dangerous to leave him in ignorance of both, but it is most valuable to represent both to him. Man must not be allowed to believe that he is equal either to animals or to angels, nor to be unaware of either, but he must know both.

Man is always prey to his truths. Once he has admitted them, he cannot free himself from them.

What the soul knows is often unknown to the man who has a soul. We are infinitely more than we think.

The nasty little apes that call themselves human beings can do nothing except run and hide.

Man is an ignoramus athirst for knowledge.

Without willing it, I had gone from being ignorant of being ignorant to being aware of being aware. And the worst part of my awareness was that I didn't know what I was aware of. I knew I knew very little, but I was certain that the things I had yet to learn wouldn't be taught to me at George Washington High School.

The first thing you learn in life is you're a fool. The last thing you learn in life is you're the same fool.

Man is a wonder to himself; he can neither govern nor know himself.

I know that you don't know, but you don't know that you don't know.

If I were dead, I would be the last to know.

For all people strive to grasp what they do not know, while none strive to grasp what they already know; and all strive to discredit what they do not excel in, while none strive to discredit what they do excel in. This is why there is chaos.

It's a human instinct to be known.

When humans act like animals, they become the most dangerous of animals to themselves and other humans, and this is because of another critical difference between humans and animals: Whereas animals are usually restrained by the limits of physical appetites, humans have mental appetites that can be far more gross and capacious than physical ones. Only humans squander and hoard, murder and pillage because of notions.

To the extent to which a man is rational, life is the premise directing his actions. To the extent to which he is irrational, the premise directing his actions is death.

Sannyas is celebration of life, and sin is natural: natural in the sense that you are unconscious - what else can you do? In unconsciousness, sin is bound to happen. Sin simply means that you don't know what you are doing, you are unaware, so whatsoever you do goes wrong. But to recognize that "I am a sinner" is the beginning of a great pilgrimage. To recognize that "I am a sinner" is the beginning of real virtue. To see that "I am ignorant" is the first glimpse of wisdom.

The animal needing something knows how much it needs, the man does not.

Q: If you could be an animal, what kind of animal would you be? A: You already are an animal.

I know we're not saints or virgins or lunatics; we know all the lust and lavatory jokes, and most of the dirty people; we can catch buses and count our change and cross the roads and talk real sentences. But our innocence goes awfully deep, and our discreditable secret is that we don't know anything at all, and our horrid inner secret is that we don't care that we don't.

Let us consider that we are all insane. It will explain us to each other. It will unriddle many riddles