A biography for Irving Babbitthasn’t been written yet.
“If a man went simply by what he saw, he might be tempted to affirm that the essence of democracy is melodrama.”
“A democracy, the realistic observer is forced to conclude, is likely to be idealistic in its feelings about itself, but imperialistic about its practice.”
“The papacy again, representing the traditional unity of European civilization, has also shown itself unable to limit effectively the push of nationalism.”
“The humanitarian would, of course, have us meddle in foreign affairs as part of his program of world service.”
“If quantitatively the American achievement is impressive, qualitatively it is somewhat less satisfying.”
“Act strenuously, would appear to be our faith, and right thinking will take care of itself.”
“Anyone who thus looks up has some chance of becoming worthy to be looked up to in turn.”
“Furthermore, America suffers not only from a lack of standards, but also not infrequently from a confusion or an inversion of standards.”
“If we are to have such a discipline we must have standards, and to get our standards under existing conditions we must have criticism.”
“A remarkable feature of the humanitarian movement, on both its sentimental and utilitarian sides, has been its preoccupation with the lot of the masses.”
“Yet Aristotle's excellence of substance, so far from being associated with the grand style, is associated with something that at times comes perilously near jargon.”
“To say that most of us today are purely expansive is only another way of saying that most of us continue to be more concerned with the quantity than with the quality of our democracy.”
“The human mind, if it is to keep its sanity, must maintain the nicest balance between unity and plurality.”
“The industrial revolution has tended to produce everywhere great urban masses that seem to be increasingly careless of ethical standards.”