This leads us to note down in our psychological chart of the mass-man of today two fundamental traits: the free expansion of his vital desires, and, therefore, of his personality; and his radical ingratitude towards all that has made possible the ease of his existence. These traits together make up the well-known psychology of the spoilt child.

Jose Ortega y Gasset

Jose Ortega y Gasset

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Liberalism -- it is well to recall this today -- is the supreme form of generosity; it is the right which the majority concedes to minorities and hence it is the noblest cry that has ever resounded in this planet. It announces the determination to share existence with the enemy; more than that, with an enemy which is weak.

— Jose Ortega y Gasset

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The poet begins where the man ends. The man's lot is to live his human life, the poet's to invent what is nonexistent.

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We distinguish the excellent man from the common man by saying that the former is the one who makes great demands on himself, and the latter who makes no demands on himself.

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Excellence means when a man or woman asks of himself more than others do.

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In order to master the unruly torrent of life the learned man meditates, the poet quivers, and the political hero erects the fortress of his will.

— Jose Ortega y Gasset