Socrates seems to be the philosophical napkin with which the ensuing cultural thinkers of history wipe their mouths of pedantic ooze.
Related quotes
Racial history is therefore natural history and the mysticism of the soul at one and the same time; but the history of the religion of the blood, conversely, is the great world story of the rise and downfall of peoples, their heroes and thinkers, their inventors and artists.
quote by Alfred Rosenberg

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Cultural Infidel
I'm a cultural infidel
Painting in the dark
I'm a cultural infidel
Singin' in the park
Socrates, hypotheses, the music of Mozart
I'm a cultural infidel
Comin' from the heart
Free thinkin', hood-winkin', unblinkin' mon
Start trouble, burst bubbles, join my caravahn
Someones got to talk about accountability
Someones got to raise some hell
I guess it could be me
I'm a cultural infidel
Tryin' to draw a crowd
I'm a cultural infidel
Singin' right out loud
Philosophy is not for me, laughin' is my game
I'm a cultural infidel
Slap me with the blame
Loose cannon, armageddon, preachers at the door
Spittin' poison at the boys'n'girls on the dance floor
I hear them in the congress
I see them on TV
I hope the inquisition remains a memory
... horn/pan instrumental ...
Al diablo Picasso, al diablo Manet
Al diablo Fontainebleu, al diablo Hemingway
O diab dr. Thompson, o diab San Joan
O diab Village People, o diab Rolling Stone
(hoo hoo)
Someones got to talk about accountability
Someones got to raise some hell
It might as well be me
I'm a cultural infidel
believe in common sense
I'm a cultural infidel
Love the present tense
But we have to keep a lookout for those mean old backed up farts
I'm a cultural infidel
Comin' from the heart
My heart, my heart, my heart
Mon coeur...
Will I see you in heaven?
Will I see you in hell?
Will I see you in Rio
Only time will...
Will I see you in heaven?
Will I see you in hell?
Will I see you tomorrow?
Only time will tell
song performed by by Jimmy Buffett (1996)

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Protest Poem...
a poem is a feeling
fragile, transitory, it does not
say anything
at all,
do no look for substance
it is not meat
it is a table napkin
i wipe my mouth and throw
it away.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa

Submitted by Poetry Lover
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So as to unveil a poem in its metaphysical matrix we need (how else could it be?) the entire cultural universe that transcendentally contains us.
aphorism by Dumitru Găleșanu from The Lights of Man: the philosophical lyric poetry (5 April 2021), translated by Andreea Moise

Submitted by anonym
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Jeremy Engle
Jeremy Engle
Lives in a tangled
Rent controlled apartment
With his communist family
There are books all around them
The dining room table is lacquered
With news clippings
Yellowing badly
They argue at dinner
His brother's friends drop by
To throw a line in or two
About Tolstoy
They all play guitar
And they're all very far away
In their own minds
From the upper west side
Of manhattan
I never got past his
Googly eyes
That looked at me sadly
In mocking surprise
The way a lord looks at his placemat
Or a stain on his tie
It never happened for me
And Jeremy Engle though
Wanted to step through that portal
And try on that other dimension
Of high high browism
Jeremy's hair and brow
Grow very high
And no not I
I'm more of a napkin
Not blessed with the vision
Beyond how I'm matching
The china and wine
Now there are the Engles
Skewering men
And chewing through
Six pounds of venison
I bet they they shot up
In upstate New York
At their uncle's
Jeremy needs me
To wipe off his eye
Some gelatinous thingy
That his brother's rebuttaling
Mouthful let fly
Sometimes all you need is a napkin
Sometimes all you need is a napkin
song performed by by Liz Phair

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Wipeout
Heheheheheheee wipe oooout!
Wipin out wipe out
Wipin out wipe out
Wah wah wah
Wipin out wipe out
Wipin out wipe out
Wah wah wah
Wipin out wipe out
Wipin out wipe out
Wah wah wah
Wipin out wipe out
Wipin out wipe out
Hey watch out
Here we go here go
Wah wah wah
Wipin out wipe out
For three years straight we toured the nation
When we get through we needed a vacation
We wanted to party and get a little rest
So we packed our things and headed out west
We got our surfboards took the beachball out
Jumped in a limosuine ready to wipeout
Now were ready to go
Here we go here we go
One one two one two one two hit it d
Here we go
We got to california I said headed for the beach
There were girls galore all within our reach
There was sand and sun and lots of fun
But when we get there the fun really begun
So we cut on the box and started to shout
It was the beach boys rockin huh huh the wipeout
Oo oo
Ooo ooo
Oo
Oo
Oo oo
Wa-ah-ah-ah wawawa-ooh-oo
Wa-ah-ah-ah wawawa-ooh-oo
Thats it, that that thats it dit dit dit dit dit
Hit it d
The sun went down and the night began
We was rapping for the people cold chillin boppin
We was partying hard making lots of noise
When around the corner came the real beach boys
So we all jumped up and started to shout
Lets all sing the song called the wipeout
Wipin out wipe out
Wipin out wipe out
Wah wah wah
Wipin out wipe out
Wipin out wipe out
Wah wah wah
Wipin out wipe out
Wipin out wipe out
Wah wah wah
Wipin out wipe out
Wipin out wipe out
Hey watch out
Wah wah wah
Wipin out wipe out
Stay go stay go stay go
Bring it out now
Wipin out wipe out
Wipin out wipe out
Wah wah wah
Wipin out wipe out
Wipin out wipe out
Wah wah wah
Wipin out wipe out
Wipin out wipe out
Wah wah wah
Wipin out wipe out
Wipin out wipe out
Hey watch out
Wah wah wah
Wipin out wipe out
song performed by by Beach Boys

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Poetry is finer and more philosophical than history; for poetry expresses the universal, and history only the particular.
Tears Away (Interlude)
All away (wipe all my)
All away (my tears away)
You Wipe (Yes you do)
You wipe them all away (You wipe 'em)
All away (All of my tears away)
You wipe my tears all away
All away (You came in my life)
All away (and wipe my tears away)
You wipe
You wipe them all the away ( Oh how I love You)
All away (and oh how I need You)
You wipe my tears all away
All away all away
You wipe [Fade Out]
song performed by by Faith Evans from Keep The Faith

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Every philosophical problem, when it is subjected to the necessary analysis and justification, is found either to be not really philosophical at all, or else to be, in the sense in which we are using the word, logical.
quote by Bertrand Russell

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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And History will smile to think that this is the species for which Socrates and Jesus Christ died.
quote by Julien Benda

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Systematic philosophical and practical anti-intellectualism such as we are witnessing appears to be something truly novel in the history of human culture.
quote by Johan Huizinga

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Wipe Your Tears Away
wipe your tears away girl
wipe your tears away
you've been thinkin' too much
'bout the things they say
wipe your tears away girl
wipe your tears away
he don't love you anyhow
so wipe your tears away
wipe your tears away girl
wipe your tears away
you need the change anyway
now wipe you tears away
wipe your tears away girl
wipe your tears away
you might need them someday
so keep your tears at bay
wipe your tears away girl
wipe your tears away
you keep thinkin' bout love
but just wait another day
wipe those tears away girl
wipe them all the way.
poem by Faith Franklin

Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Pint of Thoughts
I found a sour pint of milk,
Flashing and smiling like an act of money.
Five hundred tubes of milk, sweeter,
I purchased from the provider of happiness.
They were thoughts, greater thinkers make,
Like those philosophical creams always pondered.
I found the sour pint of milk,
And used it for thinking purposes,
Drinking it whole, for nobody,
For the first time.
poem by Naveed Akram

Submitted by Poetry Lover
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In writing the history of a disease, every philosophical hypothesis whatsoever, that has previously occupied the mind of the author, should lie in abeyance.
quote by Thomas Sydenham

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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After Nixon resigned in 1974, he engaged in a very aggressive war with history, attempting to wipe out the Watergate stain and memory. Happily, history won, largely because of Nixon's tapes.
quote by Bob Woodward

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Many highly intelligent people are poor thinkers. Many people of average intelligence are skilled thinkers. The power of a car is separate from the way the car is driven.
quote by Edward De Bono

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Slow thinkers are part of the game too. Some of these slow thinkers can hit a ball a long way.
quote by Alvin Dark

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Tears Away
All away (wipe all my)
All away (my tears away)
You Wipe (Yes you do)
You wipe them all away (You wipe 'em)
All away (All of my tears away)
You wipe my tears all away
All away (You came in my life)
All away (and wipe my tears away)
You wipe
You wipe them all the away ( Oh how I love You)
All away (and oh how I need You)
You wipe my tears all away
All away all away
You wipe [Fade Out]
song performed by by Faith Evans

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Love In The Air
Love in the Breeze.
At the nearly empty parking lot, near the supermarket,
two plastic bags danced in the spring breeze.
They elegantly circled each other, came near, almost
touched, but danced away from one another only to
meet again in a close circle; know they shyly touched.
A paper napkin with smeared lipstick on wanted to
join in, but the two plastic bags had only eyes for each
other. Deeply humiliated the napkin took refuge under
a car, but the car drove off and it had nowhere to hide.
So it began dancing alone, in slow motion, with eyes
closed as it was dreaming and the lipstick smiled.
A gust of wind came blew the napkin high into the sky
and away from the parking lot to a secret place of peace
only exploited paper napkins know of.
poem by Oskar Hansen

Submitted by Poetry Lover
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A library, to modify the famous metaphor of Socrates, should be the delivery room for the birth of ideas - a place where history comes to life.
quote by Norman Cousins

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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