Since every man desires happiness, it is evidently no small matter whether he conceives of happiness in terms of work or of enjoyment. – Irving Babbitt
Perhaps as good a classification as any of the main types is that of the three lusts distinguished by traditional Christianity – the lust of knowledge, the lust of sensation, and the lust of power. – Irving Babbitt
The democratic idealist is prone to make light of the whole question of standards and leadership because of his unbounded faith in the plain people. – Irving Babbitt
The humanities need to be defended today against the encroachments of physical science, as they once needed to be against the encroachment of theology. – Irving Babbitt
If you asked somebody, what do you wish for in life? they wouldnt say happiness. I would have answered excitement, knowledge, God knows – I mean, many, many different things, but certainly not happiness. It seemed like a foreign concept to wish for something that specific and that singular. – Connie Nielsen