230 Quotes by Jose Ortega y Gasset

To be surprised, to wonder, is to begin to understand. This is the sport, the luxury, special to the intellectual man.

Excellence means when a man or woman asks of himself more than others do.

Liberalism... is the noblest cry that has ever resounded in this planet.

The poet begins where the man ends. The man's lot is to live his human life, the poet's to invent what is nonexistent.

With morality we correct the mistakes of our instincts, and with love we correct the mistakes of our morals.

Under the species of Syndicalism and Fascism there appears for the first time in Europe a type of man who does not want to give reasons or to be right, but simply shows himself resolved to impose his opinions.

The librarian's mission should be, not like up to now, a mere handling of the book as an object, but rather a know how (mise au point) of the book as a vital function.

Hatred is a feeling which leads to the extinction of values.

The tapestry of history that seems so full of tragedy when viewed from the front has countless comic scenes woven into its reverse side. In truth, tragedy and comedy are the twin masks of history - its mass appeal.