"Rousseauist and Baconian, though often superficially at odds with one another, have co-operated in undermining, not merely religious tradition, but another tradition which in the Occident goes back finally, not to Judea, but to ancient Greece. This older tradition may be defined as humanistic. The goal of the humanist is poised and proportionate living. This he hopes to accomplish by observing the law of measure. ... Decorum is supreme for the humanist even as humility takes precedence over all other virtues in the eyes of the Christian. Traditionally the idea of decorum has been associated, often with a considerable admixture of mere formalism, with the idea of the gentleman. Humanism and religion in their various forms have at times conflicted, but have more often been in alliance with one another. As Burke says in a well-known passage: "Nothing is more certain than that our manners, our civilization, and all the good things that are connected with manners and with civilization, have, in this European world of ours, depended for ages upon two principles; and were indeed the result of both combined; I mean the spirit of a gentleman and the spirit of religion.""
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
pp. 6-7
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Irving_Babbitt
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Irving Babbitt
Irving Babbitt (August 2, 1865 – July 15, 1933) was an American academic and literary critic, noted for his founding role in a movement that became known as the New Humanism.
23 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Irving Babbitt →
Related Quotes
"What seems to me to be driving our whole civilization toward the abyss at present is a one-sided conception of libert…"
"The true dualism I take to be the contrast between two wills, one of which is felt as vital impulse (élan vital) and …"
"The greatest of vices according to Buddha is the lazy yielding to the impulses of temperament (pamada); the greatest …"
"The reasons for putting humanistic truth above scientific truth are not metaphysical but very practical: the discipli…"
"Both emotional nationalism and emotional internationalism go back to Rousseau, but in his final emphasis he is an emo…"
"I chanced recently to be glancing over … a book on Japanese Buddhism, and I read among other things that several cent…"
"The complaint is often heard at present that there is an increasing exodus from the difficult and disciplinary subjec…"
"The question I propose to consider is in what way one may justify the study of English on cultural and disciplinary, …"
"Those who are filled with concern for the lot of humanity as a whole, especially for the less fortunate portions of i…"
"Three or four years ago a distinguished Frenchman, M. Hovelacque, published an article on America in the Revue de Par…"