José Ortega y Gasset
Born: 05-08-1883
José Ortega y Gasset was a prominent Spanish philosopher and essayist, born in 1883. Renowned for his works on existentialism and cultural criticism, his influential ideas shaped 20th-century European thought. His notable works include "The Revolt of the Masses," which examines the dynamics between individualism and mass society. Ortega y Gasset's intellectual contributions continue to resonate, highlighting his impact on philosophy and social theory. He passed away in 1955.
Book summaries for books written by José Ortega y Gasset
Quotes
Life is a drama of possibilities.
Barbarism is the absence of standards to which appeal can be made.
Civilization is above all else the will to live in common.
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.
The mass crushes beneath it everything that is different, everything that is excellent, individual, qualified and select.
The mass-man sees in the state an anonymous power, and feeling himself, like it, anonymous, he believes that the state is something of his own.
The mass is the new barbarian.
Life is doubt, and faith without doubt is nothing but death.
The essence of man is to be, not to have.
Civilization is nothing else but the attempt to reduce force to being the last resort.
To be modern is to tear the soul out of things.
A culture, we realised, must be composed of people who have a purpose in life.