Jose Ortega Y Gasset Quotes

Life is a series of collisions with the future; it is not the sum of what we have been, but what we yearn to be.

Living is a constant process of deciding what we are going to do.

The metaphor is probably the most fertile power possessed by man

Our firmest convictions are apt to be the most suspect; they mark our limitations and our bounds. Life is a petty thing unless it is moved by the indomitable urge to extend its boundaries.

Romantic poses aside, let us recognize that "falling in love"...is an inferior state of mind, a form of transitory imbecility.

tragedy in the theater opens our eyes so that we can discover and appreciate the heroic in reality.

The characteristic note of our time is the dire truth that, the mediocre soul, the commonplace mind, knowing itself to be mediocre, has the gall to assert its right to mediocrity, and goes on to impose itself where it can.

In their choice of lovers both the male and the female reveal their essential nature. The type of human being we prefer reveals the contours of our heart. Love is an impulse which springs from the most profound depths of our beings, and upon reaching the visible surface of life carries with it an alluvium of shells and seaweed from the inner abyss. A skilled naturalist, by filing these materials, can reconstruct the oceanic depths from which they have been uprooted.

Personality is composed of two fundamentally different types of traits: those of 'character;' and those of 'temperament.' Your character traits stem from your experiences. Your childhood games; your family's interests and values; how people in your community express love and hate; what relatives and friends regard as courteous or perilous; how those around you worship; what they sing; when they laugh; how they make a living and relax: innumerable cultural forces build your unique set of character traits. The balance of your personality is your temperament, all the biologically based tendencies that contribute to your consistent patterns of feeling, thinking and behaving. As Spanish philosopher, Jose Ortega y Gasset, put it, 'I am, plus my circumstances.' Temperament is the 'I am,' the foundation of who you are.

Persistent ill-humour is all too clear an indication that someone is living contrary to his[her] intended purpose.

just because of its promise of unlimited possibilities technology is an empty form like the most formalistic logic and is unable to determine the content of life.that is why our time,being the most intensely technical,is also the emptiest in all human history.

There are, above all, times in which the human reality, always mobile, accelerates, and bursts into vertiginous speeds. Our time is such a one, for it is made of descent and fall.

We live at a time when man believes himself fabulously capable of creation, but he does not know what to create.

Fue siempre Madrid predilecta y víctima de la burocracia.

Para el hombre de la generación novísima, el arte es una cosa sin trascendencia.

Sus labios se extremecen un poco, como las cuerdas de un instrumento que alguien templa. ¿Cuál es su afán? Quisiera ponernos bien claras delante las cosas que pasaron. Comienza a hablar. Pero no; esto no es hablar, es recitar. Las palabras vienen sometidas a una disciplina, y parecen desintegradas de la existencia trivial que llevaban en el hablar ordinario. Como un aparato de ascensión, el hexámetro mantiene suspensos en un aire imaginario los vocablos e impide que con los pies toquen en la tierra. Esto es simbólico. Esto es lo que quiere el rapsoda: arrancarnos de la realidad cuotidiana.

Because man's being is made of strange stuff....

Todo vivir es vivirse, sentirse vivir, saberse existiendo, donde saber no implica conocimiento intelectual ni sabiduría especial ninguna, sino que es esa sorprendente PRESENCIA que su vida tiene para cada cual; sin ese saberse, sin ese darse cuenta, el dolor de muelas no nos dolería.

Amar es algo más grave y significativo que entusiasmarse con las líneas de una cara y el color de una mejilla; es cierto tipo de humanidad que simbólicamente va anunciando en los detalles del rostro, de la voz y del gesto […] El amor implica una íntima adhesión a cierto tipo de vida humana que nos parece el mejor y que hallamos preformado, insinuado en otro ser. (1985: 88-89)

Most of my ideas about how to act as an entrepreneur are derived from The Revolt of the Masses by Jose Ortega y Gasset, the greatest Spanish philosopher of the twentieth century. Although it was published in 1929, the year before I was born, I believe this book still offers the clearest explanation of the times in which we live. And I believe it offers a master “plan of action” for the would-be entrepreneur, who usually has no reputation and few resources.

Okolnost i odluka dva su osnovna elementa od kojih se sastoji život. Život nam je zadao i nametnuo okolnosti, odnosno mogućnosti. To je ono što nazivamo svijetom. Živjeti znači osjećati se sudbinski prisiljenim na slobodu, odluku o tome što ćemo biti u ovome svijetu. Ni u jednome trenutku ne možemo se odmarati od aktivnosti odlučivanja. Čak i kad se očajnički prepustimo sudbini, odlučili smo da nećemo odlučivati.

Ako ponovno razmotrimo cijelu povijest filozofije do Kanta, činit će nam se da su u dubini svi filozofi rekli isto. Dakle: svako filozofsko otkriće nije ništa više od otkrića i samo je izvlačenje na površinu onoga što je bilo na dnu.

Čim su se prosječnom čovjeku prikazali otvoreni svijet i život, zatvorila mu se duša.

La lengua, que es siempre y últimamente la lengua materna, no se aprende en Gramáticas y diccionarios, sino en el decir de la Gente

İdeal bir meslek topluluğu, işini iyi yapan teknokratlardan ibaret değildir. Daha uygun bir hedef ise, profesyonel yetkinlik ile, “alçakgönüllülük, insanlık ve mizah duygusu”nun birlikte olmasıdır. Ben avukatımın ve doktorumun, acı, aşk, kahkaha, ölüm, din, adalet ve bilimin sınırları gibi konularda fikşr sahşbş olmasını isterim. Bu, en modern ilacı ya da yargıtayın en son kararını bilmekten çok daha önemli olabilir. Genel bilgiler her zaman pek fazla güçlükle karşılaşmadna elde edilebilir. İnsana özgü anlayış, bilgisayara birkaç soru sorma düzeyine indirgenemez. 1930’da Jose Ortega y Gasset, bir derste şunları söylemişti: “Tıp okulları, fizyoloji ve kimyayı son zerresine kadar öğretmeye çalışıyorlar; fakat belki de dünyadaki hiçbir tıp okulunda hiç kimse iyi bir hekim olmanın ne anlama geldiği, çağımız için ideal tipinin ne olması gerektiği konularında ciddi olarak düşünmüyor. “ mission of the University

Fashion is on the throne. Owing to this dynamic a kind of rottenness has crept into American institutions. This rottenness might be characterized by bad manners and poor discipline. Some people say there is corruption at the top, and crime. Spanish philosopher Jose Ortega y Gasset once wrote: "No, this is no crime, but something inferior to crime. It is, in a word, slovenliness, the lack of all decorum, of all self-respect, of all decency in the state's manner of performing its peculiarly delicate function." Ortega wrote that countries are like athletes. They are either in good shape or out of shape. "Briefly," he explained, "to be in good shape means never indulging in any dissipation whatever." J.R.Nyquist

«Nuestra vida es, en todo instante y antes que nada, conciencia de lo que nos es posible. Si en cada momento no tuviéramos delante más que una sola posibilidad, carecería de sentido llamarla así. Sería más bien pura necesidad.»

Obedience starts with a pierced ear. It's tuning into God's frequency and turning up the volume. It's obeying His whispers, even if a thousand people are screaming something different. 'Tell me to what you pay attention,' said the Spanish philosopher Jose Ortega y Gasset, 'and I will tell you who are you.' You will eventually be shaped in the image of the loudest voice in your life. Genuine listening is ultimately an act of submission.