Nicolás Gómez Dávila quotes

Nicolás Gómez Dávila was a Colombian philosopher and writer known for his reactionary and deeply critical aphorisms. His collected works, particularly "Escolios a un texto implícito," have influenced thinkers worldwide for their incisive critique of modernity. He became renowned for his unique style and defense of traditional values. Here are 72 of his quotes:

To tolerate does not mean to forget that what we tolerate does not deserve anything more. (Nicolás Gómez Dávila)
The modernist thirst for originality makes the mediocre artist believe that the secret of originality consists simply in being different. View quote
Nicolás Gómez Dávila
Individualism is the cradle of vulgarity. View quote
Nicolás Gómez Dávila
Poetry is the fingerprint of God in human clay. View quote
Nicolás Gómez Dávila
Faith is not knowledge of an object but communion with it. View quote
Nicolás Gómez Dávila
The writer who loves or hates is less persuasive than the one who loves and hates. View quote
Nicolás Gómez Dávila
Modern man is a prisoner who thinks he is free because he refrains from touching the walls of his dungeon. View quote
Nicolás Gómez Dávila
Stupid ideas are immortal. Each new generation invents them anew. View quote
Nicolás Gómez Dávila
Of God one doesn't speak with any precision or seriousness except in poetry. View quote
Nicolás Gómez Dávila
Truths are not relative. What is relative are opinions about truth. View quote
Nicolás Gómez Dávila
In general, "historical necessity" turns out to be merely a name for human stupidity. (Nicolás Gómez Dávila)
Whoever says that he "belongs to his time" is only saying that he agrees with the largest number of fools at that moment. View quote
Nicolás Gómez Dávila
The difference between "organic" and "mechanical" in social matters is a moral one: the "organic" is the result of innumerable humble acts; the "mechanical" is the result of one decisive act of arrogance. View quote
Nicolás Gómez Dávila
If philosophy does not resolve any scientific problem, science, in its turn, does not resolve any philosophical problem. View quote
Nicolás Gómez Dávila
The left claims that the guilty party in a conflict is not the one who covets another's goods but the one who defends his own. View quote
Nicolás Gómez Dávila
The criterion of "progress" between two cultures or two eras consists of a greater capacity to kill. View quote
Nicolás Gómez Dávila
Clarity of text is the sole incontrovertible sign of the maturity of an idea. View quote
Nicolás Gómez Dávila
The word "modern" no longer has an automatic prestige except among fools. View quote
Nicolás Gómez Dávila
"Taste is relative" is the excuse adopted by those eras that have bad taste. View quote
Nicolás Gómez Dávila
The modernist object does not possess inner life; only internal conflicts. View quote
Nicolás Gómez Dávila
With God there are only individuals. (Nicolás Gómez Dávila)
The supreme aristocrat is not the feudal lord in his castle but the contemplative monk in his cell. View quote
Nicolás Gómez Dávila
Violence is not necessary to destroy a civilization. Each civilization dies from indifference toward the unique values which created it. View quote
Nicolás Gómez Dávila
The Biblical prophet doesn't predict the future, but bears witness to the presence of God in history. View quote
Nicolás Gómez Dávila
The imagination is the only place in the universe where it is possible to live. View quote
Nicolás Gómez Dávila

Nicolás Gómez Dávila

Nicolás Gómez Dávila - Image
Photo: Danmute, CC BY-SA 4.0
Occupation: Colombian Writer
Born: May 18, 1913
Died: May 17, 1994
Quotes count: 72
Wikipedia: Nicolás Gómez Dávila

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