180 Quotes by Mortimer J. Adler

  • Author Mortimer J. Adler
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    One of the aims of sexual union is procreation – the creation by reproduction of an image of itself, of the union.

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  • Author Mortimer J. Adler
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    The question, is it true? can be asked of anything we read. It is applicable to every kind of writing, in one or another sense of “truth” – mathematical, scientific, philosophical, historial and poetical. No higher commendation can be given any work of the human mind than to praise it for the measure of truth it has achieved; by the same token, to criticize it adversely for its failure in this respect is to treat it with the seriousness that a serious work deserves.

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  • Author Mortimer J. Adler
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    Reading well, which means reading actively, is thus not only a good in itself, nor is it merely a means to advancement in our work or career. It also serves to keep our minds alive and growing.

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  • Author Mortimer J. Adler
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    If your friend wishes to read your ‘Plutarch’s Lives,’ ‘Shakespeare,’ or ‘The Federalist Papers,’ tell him gently but firmly, to buy a copy. You will lend him your car or your coat – but your books are as much a part of you as your head or your heart.

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  • Author Mortimer J. Adler
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    The love which moves the world, according to common Christian belief, is God’s love and the love of God.

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  • Author Mortimer J. Adler
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    In tackling a difficult book for the first time, read it through without ever stopping to look up or ponder the things you do not understand right away.

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  • Author Mortimer J. Adler
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    We must become a nation of truly competent readers, recognizing all that the word competent implies.

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  • Author Mortimer J. Adler
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    You cannot begin to deal with terms, propositions, and arguments – the elements of thought – until you can penetrate beneath the surface of language.

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