Jose Ortega Y Gasset, (1883-1955), Spanish Essayist, Philosopher Quotes

All life is the struggle, the effort to be itself.

Man has to live with the body and soul which have fallen to him by chance.

The past will not tell us what we ought to do, but... What we ought to avoid.

We cannot put off living until we are ready. The most salient characteristic of life is its coerciveness: it is always urgent, "here and now," without any possible postponement. Life is fired at us point-blank.

Under the species of Syndicalism and Fascism there appears for the first time in Europe, a type of man who does not want to give reasons or to be right but simply shows himself resolved to impose his opinions.

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.

Tell me what you pay attention to and I will tell you who you are.

Our firmest convictions are apt to be the most suspect; they mark our limitations and our bounds. Life is a petty thing unless it is moved by the indomitable urge to extend its boundaries.

Man adapts himself to everything, to the best and the worst.

A revolution does not last more than fifteen years, the period which coincides with the flourishing of a generation.