Mortimer J. Adler – Quotes and Short Biography

  • Post category:Philosophy

As a philosopher in the Aristotelian and Thomistic traditions, Mortimer Jerome Adler worked to make philosophy accessible to all people. He was interested in the everyday man. Adler said that he had no interest in the academic audience, and his famous works show this intent. Mortimer J. Adler produced many works, but among his most famous books is Aristotle for Everybody, How to Read a Book, and How to Speak / How to Listen. Though his notable works are few, in his lifetime, he produced more than 20 books.

Mortimer J. Adler is considered to be a staple in the 20th-century study of Westen Philosophy, primarily in the areas of Philosophical theology, metaphysics, and ethics. During his career, he worked for Columbia University, the University of Chicago, Encyclopædia Britannica, and at his own Institute for Philosophical Research.

Though Mortimer J. Adler was a famous thinker and prolific writer, many of the new generations do not know who he is or the value of his works. I have collected 30 quotes from across his famous book to introduce people to his point of view.

Below you will find 30 Popular Quotes collected from the writings of Mortimer J. Adler

“In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but how many can get through to you.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“The purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as we continue to live.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“Freedom is the emancipation from the arbitrary rule of other men.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“Reading is a basic tool in the living of a good life.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“True freedom is impossible without a mind made free by discipline.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“Unless we love and are loved, each of us is alone, each of us is deeply lonely.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“Conjugal love, or the friendship of spouses, can persist even after sexual desires have weakened, withered, and disappeared.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“If you never ask yourself any questions about the meaning of a passage, you cannot expect the book to give you any insight you do not already possess.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“Friendship is a very taxing and arduous form of leisure activity.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“You have to allow a certain amount of time in which you are doing nothing in order to have things occur to you, to let your mind think.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“Reading is a basic tool in the living of a good life.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“The person who says he knows what he thinks but cannot express it usually does not know what he thinks.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“Wonder is the beginning of wisdom in learning from books as well as from nature.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“The great authors were great readers, and one way to understand them is to read the books they read.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“To agree without understanding is inane. To disagree without understanding is impudent.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“The ability to retain a child's view of the world with at the same time a mature understanding of what it means to retain it, is extremely rare - and a person who has these qualities is likely to be able to contribute something really important to our thinking.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“There are genuine mysteries in the world that mark the limits of human knowing and thinking. Wisdom is fortified, not destroyed, by understanding its limitations. Ignorance does not make a fool as surely as self-deception.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“Is it too much to expect from the schools that they train their students not only to interpret but to criticize; that is, to discriminate what is sound from error and falsehood, to suspend judgement if they are not convinced, or to judge with reason if they agree or disagree?” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“If your friend wishes to read your 'Plutarch's Lives,' 'Shakespeare,' or 'The Federalist Papers,' tell him gently but firmly, to buy a copy. You will lend him your car or your coat - but your books are as much a part of you as your head or your heart.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“If a book is easy and fits nicely into all your language conventions and thought forms, then you probably will not grow much from reading it. It may be entertaining, but not enlarging to your understanding. It’s the hard books that count. Raking is easy, but all you get is leaves; digging is hard, but you might find diamonds.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“Imaginative literature primarily pleases rather than teaches. It is much easier to be pleased than taught, but much harder to know why one is pleased. Beauty is harder to analyze than truth.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“The truly great books are the few books that are over everybody's head all of the time.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“The best protection against propaganda of any sort is the recognition of it for what it is. Only hidden and undetected oratory is really insidious. What reaches the heart without going through the mind is likely to bounce back and put the mind out of business. Propaganda taken in that way is like a drug you do not know you are swallowing. The effect is mysterious; you do not know afterwards why you feel or think the way you do.” ― Mortimer Jerome Adler
“There have always been literate ignoramuses who have read too widely and not well. The Greeks had a name for such a mixture of learning and folly which might be applied to the bookish but poorly read of all ages. They are all sophomores.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“Finally, do not try to understand every word or page of a difficult book the first time through. This is the most important rule of all; it is the essence of inspectional reading.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“To use a good book as a sedative is conspicuous waste.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“The first is the ignorance of those who, not knowing their A-B-C’s, cannot read at all. The second is the ignorance of those who have misread many books.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“The person who, at any stage of a conversation, disagrees, should at least hope to reach agreement in the end. He should be as much prepared to have his own mind changed as seek to change the mind of another ... No one who looks upon disagreement as an occasion for teaching another should forget that it is also an occasion for being taught.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“If your friend wishes to read your 'Plutarch's Lives,' 'Shakespeare,' or 'The Federalist Papers,' tell him gently but firmly, to buy a copy. You will lend him your car or your coat - but your books are as much a part of you as your head or your heart.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“A practical problem can only be solved by action itself. When your practical problem is how to earn a living, a book on how to make friends and influence people cannot solve it, though it may suggest things to do. Nothing short of the doing solves the problem. It is solved only by earning a living.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“Friendship is a very taxing and arduous form of leisure activity.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“If you never ask yourself any questions about the meaning of a passage, you cannot expect the book to give you any insight you do not already possess.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“Conjugal love, or the friendship of spouses, can persist even after sexual desires have weakened, withered, and disappeared.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“Unless we love and are loved, each of us is alone, each of us is deeply lonely.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“True freedom is impossible without a mind made free by discipline.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“Reading is a basic tool in the living of a good life.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“Freedom is the emancipation from the arbitrary rule of other men.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“The purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as we continue to live.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but how many can get through to you.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“A practical problem can only be solved by action itself. When your practical problem is how to earn a living, a book on how to make friends and influence people cannot solve it, though it may suggest things to do. Nothing short of the doing solves the problem. It is solved only by earning a living.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“You must be able to say "I understand," before you can say "I agree," or "I disagree," or "I suspend judgment.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“The person who, at any stage of a conversation, disagrees, should at least hope to reach agreement in the end. He should be as much prepared to have his own mind changed as seek to change the mind of another ... No one who looks upon disagreement as an occasion for teaching another should forget that it is also an occasion for being taught.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“The first is the ignorance of those who, not knowing their A-B-C’s, cannot read at all. The second is the ignorance of those who have misread many books.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“To use a good book as a sedative is conspicuous waste.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“Finally, do not try to understand every word or page of a difficult book the first time through. This is the most important rule of all; it is the essence of inspectional reading.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“There have always been literate ignoramuses who have read too widely and not well. The Greeks had a name for such a mixture of learning and folly which might be applied to the bookish but poorly read of all ages. They are all sophomores.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“The best protection against propaganda of any sort is the recognition of it for what it is. Only hidden and undetected oratory is really insidious. What reaches the heart without going through the mind is likely to bounce back and put the mind out of business. Propaganda taken in that way is like a drug you do not know you are swallowing. The effect is mysterious; you do not know afterwards why you feel or think the way you do.” ― Mortimer Jerome Adler
“The truly great books are the few books that are over everybody's head all of the time.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“Imaginative literature primarily pleases rather than teaches. It is much easier to be pleased than taught, but much harder to know why one is pleased. Beauty is harder to analyze than truth.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“If a book is easy and fits nicely into all your language conventions and thought forms, then you probably will not grow much from reading it. It may be entertaining, but not enlarging to your understanding. It’s the hard books that count. Raking is easy, but all you get is leaves; digging is hard, but you might find diamonds.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“If your friend wishes to read your 'Plutarch's Lives,' 'Shakespeare,' or 'The Federalist Papers,' tell him gently but firmly, to buy a copy. You will lend him your car or your coat - but your books are as much a part of you as your head or your heart.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“Is it too much to expect from the schools that they train their students not only to interpret but to criticize; that is, to discriminate what is sound from error and falsehood, to suspend judgement if they are not convinced, or to judge with reason if they agree or disagree?” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“There are genuine mysteries in the world that mark the limits of human knowing and thinking. Wisdom is fortified, not destroyed, by understanding its limitations. Ignorance does not make a fool as surely as self-deception.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“The ability to retain a child's view of the world with at the same time a mature understanding of what it means to retain it, is extremely rare - and a person who has these qualities is likely to be able to contribute something really important to our thinking.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“To agree without understanding is inane. To disagree without understanding is impudent.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“Wonder is the beginning of wisdom in learning from books as well as from nature.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“The great authors were great readers, and one way to understand them is to read the books they read.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“The person who says he knows what he thinks but cannot express it usually does not know what he thinks.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“Reading is a basic tool in the living of a good life.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
“You have to allow a certain amount of time in which you are doing nothing in order to have things occur to you, to let your mind think.” ― Mortimer J. Adler
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This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. charlotteannrobinson.com December 1, 2019

    I absolutely love this post and am now a fan of Mortimer J. Adler! Also, thank you for reading and following my blog!!

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