"When one believes in an alternate vision of history, ... he is stepping outside the city to see a pastoral vision in which the office buildings and the universities do not obscure the archaic stars. All through history, from Abraham to Mao, prophets have left the city behind them to insist upon a vision of things greater than they are; but in the double nature of all phenomena, the abandoning of the city for the wilderness is also the pattern of madness: the psychotic leaves the social structure of sanity. From the psychotic’s point of view, one could paraphrase Voltaire to say that sanity is the lie commonly agreed upon. Those left behind in the city define themselves as responsible and sane and see the wanderer as a madman. The wanderer defines himself as the only sane person in a city of the insane and walks out in search of other possibilities. All history seems to pulse in this rhythm of urban views and pastoral visions."
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MysticsPhilosophers from the United StatesHistorians from the United StatesCultural criticsSocial critics
Original Language: English
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At the edge of history: Speculations on the transformation of culture (1972). pp. 214-215.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Irwin_Thompson
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William Irwin Thompson
William Irwin Thompson (July 16 1938 - November 8 2020) was a social philosopher, cultural critic, poet, and the founder of the Lindisfarne Association.
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