Authors: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

71 Insightful Quotes By George Santayana On Music, History, Life, Books And More

Famous As: Regarded as One of the Most Important Thinkers of the First Half of the 20th Century
Born On: December 16, 1863
Died On: September 26, 1952
Born In: Madrid, Spain
Died At Age: 88
George Santayana was an illustrious essayist, philosopher, novelist and poet. Though he belonged to Spain, and was raised and educated in America since the age of eight. He held a valid Spanish passport, but identified himself as American. He wrote his essays, books, novels and poems in English and is distinguished as American ‘Man of Letters’. Popularly known for his thoughts, views and aphorisms, his writings, essays, quotes, thoughts and sayings are till date quoted extensively. Though he was an atheist, he valued Spanish Catholic beliefs, practices and values. He untimely left his job and moved to Europe, never to return. Here is a corpus of some notable quotes and thoughts by George Santayana on men, women, masterpieces, love, life, history, future, respect, war, dead, educated, act, dreams, school, child, patriotism, soul, knowledge, recognition, tyranny etc which have been excerpted from his poems, novels, writings, books, essays, work and life.
The earth has music for those who listen.

The earth has music for those who listen.

George Santayana
Sanity is a madness put to good uses.

Sanity is a madness put to good uses.

George Santayana
Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it.

Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it.

George Santayana
A child educated only at school is an uneducated child.

A child educated only at school is an uneducated child.

George Santayana
My atheism, like that of Spinoza, is true piety towards the universe and denies only gods fashioned by men in their own image, to be servants of their human interests.

My atheism, like that of Spinoza, is true piety towards the universe and denies only gods fashioned by men in their own image, to be servants of their human interests.

George Santayana
To be interested in the changing seasons is . . . a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.

To be interested in the changing seasons is . . . a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.

George Santayana
Chaos is a name for any order that produces confusion in our minds.

Chaos is a name for any order that produces confusion in our minds.

George Santayana
To be happy you must have taken the measure of your powers, tasted the fruits of your passion, and learned your place in the world.

To be happy you must have taken the measure of your powers, tasted the fruits of your passion, and learned your place in the world.

George Santayana
Knowledge of what is possible is the beginning of happiness.

Knowledge of what is possible is the beginning of happiness.

George Santayana
Memory... is an internal rumor.

Memory... is an internal rumor.

George Santayana
There are books in which the footnotes, or the comments scrawled by some reader's hand in the margin, are more interesting than the text. The world is one of those books.

There are books in which the footnotes, or the comments scrawled by some reader's hand in the margin, are more interesting than the text. The world is one of those books.

George Santayana
Everything in nature is lyrical in its ideal essence, tragic in its fate, and comic in its existence.

Everything in nature is lyrical in its ideal essence, tragic in its fate, and comic in its existence.

George Santayana
Beauty as we feel it is something indescribable; what it is or what it means can never be said.

Beauty as we feel it is something indescribable; what it is or what it means can never be said.

George Santayana
We must welcome the future, remembering that soon it will be the past; and we must respect the past, remembering that it was once all that was humanly possible.

We must welcome the future, remembering that soon it will be the past; and we must respect the past, remembering that it was once all that was humanly possible.

George Santayana
Love make us poets, and the approach of death should make us philosophers.

Love make us poets, and the approach of death should make us philosophers.

George Santayana
Fanaticism consists of redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim.

Fanaticism consists of redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim.

George Santayana
There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval.

There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval.

George Santayana
Never build your emotional life on the weaknesses of others.

Never build your emotional life on the weaknesses of others.

George Santayana
Advertising is the modern substitute for argument; its function is to make the worse appear the better.

Advertising is the modern substitute for argument; its function is to make the worse appear the better.

George Santayana
The muffled syllables that Nature speaks
Fill us with deeper longing for her word; 
She hides a meaning that the spirit seeks,
She makes a sweeter music than is heard.

The muffled syllables that Nature speaks Fill us with deeper longing for her word; She hides a meaning that the spirit seeks, She makes a sweeter music than is heard.

George Santayana
The wisest mind has something yet to learn.

The wisest mind has something yet to learn.

George Santayana
The bible is literature, not dogma.

The bible is literature, not dogma.

George Santayana
Why shouldnt things be largely absurd, futile, and transitory? they are so, and we are so, and they and we go together.

Why shouldnt things be largely absurd, futile, and transitory? they are so, and we are so, and they and we go together.

George Santayana
There is wisdom in turning as often as possible from the familiar to the unfamiliar: it keeps the mind nimble, it kills prejudice, and it fosters humor.

There is wisdom in turning as often as possible from the familiar to the unfamiliar: it keeps the mind nimble, it kills prejudice, and it fosters humor.

George Santayana
It takes patience to appreciate domestic bliss; volatile spirits prefer unhappiness.

It takes patience to appreciate domestic bliss; volatile spirits prefer unhappiness.

George Santayana
Skepticism, like chastity, should not be relinquished too readily.

Skepticism, like chastity, should not be relinquished too readily.

George Santayana
Nothing is really so poor and melancholy as art that is interested in itself and not in its subject.

Nothing is really so poor and melancholy as art that is interested in itself and not in its subject.

George Santayana
To know your future you must know your past

To know your future you must know your past

George Santayana
A man's feet must be planted in his country, but his eyes should survey the world.

A man's feet must be planted in his country, but his eyes should survey the world.

George Santayana
The best men in all ages keep classic traditions alive.

The best men in all ages keep classic traditions alive.

George Santayana
History is a pack of lies about events that never happened told by people who weren't there. . . . History is always written wrong, and so always needs to be rewritten

History is a pack of lies about events that never happened told by people who weren't there. . . . History is always written wrong, and so always needs to be rewritten

George Santayana
The worship of power is an old religion.

The worship of power is an old religion.

George Santayana
We laughed at the same things, and we liked the same things. What more is needed for agreeable society?

We laughed at the same things, and we liked the same things. What more is needed for agreeable society?

George Santayana
An artist is a dreamer consenting to dream of the actual world.

An artist is a dreamer consenting to dream of the actual world.

George Santayana
Almost every wise saying has an opposite one, no less wise, to balance it.

Almost every wise saying has an opposite one, no less wise, to balance it.

George Santayana
The Platonic idealist is the man by nature so wedded to perfection that he sees in everything not the reality but the faultless ideal which the reality misses and suggests.

The Platonic idealist is the man by nature so wedded to perfection that he sees in everything not the reality but the faultless ideal which the reality misses and suggests.

George Santayana
Men become superstitious, not because they have too much imagination, but because they are not aware that they have any.

Men become superstitious, not because they have too much imagination, but because they are not aware that they have any.

George Santayana
All living souls welcome whatever they are ready to cope with; all else they ignore, or pronounce to be monstrous and wrong, or deny to be possible

All living souls welcome whatever they are ready to cope with; all else they ignore, or pronounce to be monstrous and wrong, or deny to be possible

George Santayana
That life is worth living is the most necessary of assumptions, and were it not assumed, the most impossible of conclusions.

That life is worth living is the most necessary of assumptions, and were it not assumed, the most impossible of conclusions.

George Santayana
The Difficult is that which can be done immediately; the Impossible that which takes a little longer.

The Difficult is that which can be done immediately; the Impossible that which takes a little longer.

George Santayana
Criticism surprises the soul in the arms of convention.

Criticism surprises the soul in the arms of convention.

George Santayana
To knock a thing down when it is cocked at an arrogant angle is a deep delight of the blood.

To knock a thing down when it is cocked at an arrogant angle is a deep delight of the blood.

George Santayana
All conditions are bearable, all dignities trumpery, and wisdom simply the gift of making the best of whatever is thrust upon us.

All conditions are bearable, all dignities trumpery, and wisdom simply the gift of making the best of whatever is thrust upon us.

George Santayana
The wisest mind hath something yet to learn.

The wisest mind hath something yet to learn.

George Santayana
History is nothing but assisted and recorded memory

History is nothing but assisted and recorded memory

George Santayana
Fashion is something barbarous, for it produces innovation without reason and imitation without benefit.

Fashion is something barbarous, for it produces innovation without reason and imitation without benefit.

George Santayana
One's friends are that part of the human race with which one can be human.

One's friends are that part of the human race with which one can be human.

George Santayana
The man who is not permitted to own is owned.

The man who is not permitted to own is owned.

George Santayana
Men have feverishly conceived a heaven only to find it insipid, and a hell to find it ridiculous.

Men have feverishly conceived a heaven only to find it insipid, and a hell to find it ridiculous.

George Santayana
Depression is rage spread thin.

Depression is rage spread thin.

George Santayana
The fact of having been born is a bad augury for immortality.

The fact of having been born is a bad augury for immortality.

George Santayana
Nothing can so pierce the soul as the uttermost sigh of the body.

Nothing can so pierce the soul as the uttermost sigh of the body.

George Santayana
The need of exercise is a modern superstition, invented by people who ate too much and had nothing to think about. Athletics don’t make anybody long-lived or useful.

The need of exercise is a modern superstition, invented by people who ate too much and had nothing to think about. Athletics don’t make anybody long-lived or useful.

George Santayana
The contemporary world has turned its back on the attempt and even on the desire to live reasonably.

The contemporary world has turned its back on the attempt and even on the desire to live reasonably.

George Santayana
To knock a thing down, especially if it is cocked at an arrogant angle, is a deep delight of the blood.

To knock a thing down, especially if it is cocked at an arrogant angle, is a deep delight of the blood.

George Santayana
I like to walk about amidst the beautiful things that adorn the world.

I like to walk about amidst the beautiful things that adorn the world.

George Santayana
The mass of mankind is divided into two classes, the Sancho Panzas who have a sense for reality, but no ideals, and the Don Quixotes with a sense for ideals, but mad.

The mass of mankind is divided into two classes, the Sancho Panzas who have a sense for reality, but no ideals, and the Don Quixotes with a sense for ideals, but mad.

George Santayana
The body must be loosely clad if the mind is to forget it and impetuously lead its own life.

The body must be loosely clad if the mind is to forget it and impetuously lead its own life.

George Santayana
A man is morally free when...he judges the world, and judges other men, with uncompromising sincerity

A man is morally free when...he judges the world, and judges other men, with uncompromising sincerity

George Santayana
History is always written wrong, and so always needs to be rewritten.

History is always written wrong, and so always needs to be rewritten.

George Santayana
I like to walk about among the beautiful things that adorn the world; but private wealth I should decline, or any sort of personal possessions, because they would take away my liberty.

I like to walk about among the beautiful things that adorn the world; but private wealth I should decline, or any sort of personal possessions, because they would take away my liberty.

George Santayana
Time and Space are not prior to creation, they are forms under which creation becomes thinkable.

Time and Space are not prior to creation, they are forms under which creation becomes thinkable.

George Santayana
The wisest man has something yet to learn.

The wisest man has something yet to learn.

George Santayana
Life is judged with all the blindness of life itself.

Life is judged with all the blindness of life itself.

George Santayana
There is nothing to which men, while they have food and drink, cannot reconcile themselves.

There is nothing to which men, while they have food and drink, cannot reconcile themselves.

George Santayana
Friends are generally of the same sex, for when men and women agree, it is only in their conclusions, their reasons are always different.

Friends are generally of the same sex, for when men and women agree, it is only in their conclusions, their reasons are always different.

George Santayana
Faith in the intellect...is the only faith yet sanctioned by its fruits

Faith in the intellect...is the only faith yet sanctioned by its fruits

George Santayana
Only the dead have seen the end of the war.

Only the dead have seen the end of the war.

George Santayana
I stand in philosophy exactly where I stand in daily life; I should not be honest otherwise.

I stand in philosophy exactly where I stand in daily life; I should not be honest otherwise.

George Santayana
Fanaticism is redoubling your effort after you've forgotten your aim.

Fanaticism is redoubling your effort after you've forgotten your aim.

George Santayana
By obedience and self-control come to your full stature; be in fact what you are in possibility; satisfy

By obedience and self-control come to your full stature; be in fact what you are in possibility; satisfy

George Santayana