Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary by Voltaire
page 64 of 338 (18%)
page 64 of 338 (18%)
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solutions ready, figurative meanings, allegories, symbols, express
declarations of Birma, Brahma and Vitsnou, which should close the mouths of all who reason. _CHARACTER_ From the Greek word _impression_, _engraving_. It is what nature has graved in us. Can one change one's character? Yes, if one changes one's body. It is possible for a man born blunderer, unbending and violent, being stricken with apoplexy in his old age, to become a foolish, tearful child, timid and peaceable. His body is no longer the same. But as long as his nerves, his blood and his marrow are in the same state, his nature will not change any more than a wolf's and a marten's instinct. The character is composed of our ideas and our feelings: well, it is substantiated that we give ourselves neither feelings nor ideas; therefore our character does not depend on us. If it depended on us, there is nobody who would not be perfect. We cannot give ourselves tastes, talents; why should we give ourselves qualities? |
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