10 April 2006
noble, noble Kant
'Many human beings are unhappy because they cannot abstract. The suitor could make a good marriage if only he could overlook a wart on his beloved's face, or a gap between her teeth. But it is an especially bad habit of our faculty of attention to fix itself directly, even involuntarily, on what is faulty in others: to fix one's eyes on a button missing from the coat of someone who is directly in front of us, or on gaps between his teeth, or to direct attention to a habitual speech defect, thereby confusing the other person and ruining the game not only for him but also for conversation. If the essentials are good, then it is not only fair, but also prudent, to look away from the misfortunes of others, yes, even from our own good fortune. But this faculty of abstraction is a strength of mind that can only be acquired through practice.' - Kant, Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View.
