Jonathan Emmesedi🧵 1/3
https://unherd.com/2026/04/why-the-heterodox-university-failed/?edition=us
By no means the last word on woke/antiwoke academia, but refreshing to read a piece that actually tries to explain the failure of the "heterodox academy".
WIST QuotationsA quotation from Henry Commager
A nation which, in the name of loyalty or of patriotism or of a sincere and high-sounding idea, discourages criticism and dissent, and puts a premium on acquiescence and conformity, is headed for disaster.Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian, writer, activist
Essay (1949-11-05), “What Ideas Are Safe?” Saturday Review
More about this quote: wist.info/commager-henry-steel…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #commager #henrycommager #acquiescence #conformity #control #dissent #freespeech #freedomofspeech #freedomofthought #heterodoxy #intolerance #loyalty #orthodoxy #patriotism #security #intellectualfreedom
Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.
Frank Zappa (1940-1993) American singer-songwriter
A Day with Frank Zappa, Part 5, documentary, dir. Roelof Kiers, VPRO-TV (1971-02-11)
More about this quote (and variants): wist.info/zappa-frank/4263/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #zappa #frankzappa #change #convention #deviance #deviation #heterodoxy #LGBTQ #norm #normalcy #orientation #orthodoxy #progress #sexuality #statusquo #variation #diversity #meme
A quotation from La Rochefoucauld
It is generally pride rather than lack of intelligence which prompts men to dispute so obstinately generally accepted opinions; they find all the front seats taken on the popular side, and do not wish to sit behind.[C’est plus souvent par orgueil que par défaut de lumières qu’on s’oppose avec tant d’opiniâtreté aux opinions les plus suivies: on trouve les premières places prises dans le bon parti, et on ne veut point des dernières.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶234 (1665-1678) [tr. Stevens (1939)]
More info about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/la-rochefoucauld-fra…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #larochefoucauld #attention #selfaggrandizement #attentionseeking #bigfish #contrariness #ego #heterodoxy #obstinacy #pride #selfglorification #selfpromotion #selfrighteousness #popularopinion
La Rochefoucauld, Francois - Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶234 (1665-1678) [tr. Stevens (1939)] | WIST Quotations
It is generally pride rather than lack of intelligence which prompts men to dispute so obstinately generally accepted opinions; they find all the front seats taken on the popular side, and do not wish to sit behind. [C’est plus souvent par orgueil que par défaut de lumières qu’on s’oppose avec…
A quotation from Henry Commager
We do not protect freedom in order to indulge error. We protect freedom in order to discover truth. We do not maintain freedom in order to permit eccentricity to flourish; we maintain freedom in order that society may profit from criticism, even eccentric criticism. We do not encourage dissent for sentimental reasons; we encourage dissent because we cannot live without it.Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian, writer, activist
Essay (1954), “The Necessity of Freedom,” Freedom, Loyalty, Dissent
More about this quote: wist.info/commager-henry-steel…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #henrycommager #criticism #dissent #eccentricity #error #freedom #heterodoxy #investigation #test #truth
Essay (1954), "The Necessity of Freedom," Freedom, Loyalty, Dissent - Commager, Henry Steele | WIST Quotations
We do not protect freedom in order to indulge error. We protect freedom in order to discover truth. We do not maintain freedom in order to permit eccentricity to flourish; we maintain freedom in order that society may profit from criticism, even eccentric criticism. We do not encourage dissent for…
WIST Quotations Has Moved!A quotation from Charles Evans Hughes
When we lose the right to be different, we lose the privilege to be free.Charles Evans Hughes, Sr. (1862-1948) American statesman, politician, Supreme Court Justice (1910-1916, 1930-1941)
Speech (1925-06-17), Battle of Bunker Hill 150th Anniversary, Faneuil Hall, Boston Massachusetts
More about this quote: wist.info/hughes-charles-evans…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #charlesevanshughes #coexistence #difference #freedom #heterodoxy #liberty #tolerance #variation #nonconformity
Speech (1925-06-17), Battle of Bunker Hill 150th Anniversary, Faneuil Hall, Boston Massachusetts - Hughes, Charles Evans | WIST Quotations
When we lose the right to be different, we lose the privilege to be free. Sometimes misquoted, "... the right to be free." When we lose the right to be different, we lose the right to be free.
A quotation from Henry Commager
A nation that silences or intimidates original minds is left only with unoriginal minds and cannot hope to hold its own in the competition of peace or of war.Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian, writer, activist
Essay (1953-02-21), “Is Freedom Really Necessary?” Saturday Review
More info about this quote: wist.info/commager-henry-steel…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #henrycommager #competition #deviation #heterodoxy #imagination #innovation #intimidation #originality #peace #suppression #war
Essay (1953-02-21), “Is Freedom Really Necessary?” Saturday Review - Commager, Henry Steele | WIST Quotations
A nation that silences or intimidates original minds is left only with unoriginal minds and cannot hope to hold its own in the competition of peace or of war. Based on a discussion by the American Round Table, New York City (1951). Collected as "Free Enterprise in Ideas," Freedom, Loyalty…
pdb‘[I]t is unhelpful to try and reduce the depth of human experience to any singular phenomenon … . Human identities are deeply and infinitely complex, so why would we not ultimately need multiple frameworks through which to understand the concept of the “self?”’
— Kat Grant
https://www.transingboundaries.com/am-i-a-gender-gnostic/
#queer #transgender #genderDysphoria #nonbinary #Christianity #orthodoxy #heterodoxy #NewAtheism #gnosticism
Am I a Gender Gnostic?
What actually is the body and the "self" when you're trans? Want to support my work? Join the email list down to receive each post directly to your inbox, for free! If you can afford it and want to show additional support, as well as access the full archive and
A quotation from Bertrand Russell
Where the environment is stupid or prejudiced or cruel, it is a sign of merit to be out of harmony with it.Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Conquest of Happiness, Part 1, ch. 9 “Fear of Public Opinion” (1930)
More info about this quote: wist.info/russell-bertrand/792…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #BertrandRussell #autonomy #bullying #cruelty #discrimination #folly #foolishness #heterodoxy #independence #individualism #judgment #nastiness #nationalism #prejudice #racism #sexism #stupidity #merit #virtue
To write in plain, vigorous language one has to think fearlessly, and if one thinks fearlessly one cannot be politically orthodox.
George Orwell (1903-1950) English writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1946-01), “The Prevention of Literature,” Polemic Magazine
Sourcing, notes: wist.info/orwell-george/46536/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #orwell #georgeorwell #boldness #conformity #fear #heterodoxy #language #nonconformity #orthodoxy #radical #writing