Henri Bergson

"The prestige of the Nobel Prize is due to many causes, but in particular to its twofold idealistic and international character: idealistic in that it has been designed for works of lofty inspiration; international in that it is awarded after the production of different countries has been minutely studied and the intellectual balance sheet of the whole world has been drawn up. Free from all other considerations and ignoring any but intellectual values, the judges have deliberately taken their place in what the philosophers have called a community of the mind."

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Source: Henri Bergson's acceptance speech (in the form of a letter) for the Nobel Prize in literature at the Nobel Banquet at Grand Hotel in Stockholm, www.nobelprize.org. December 10, 1928.

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Henri Bergson

Henri Bergson

Philosopher

Henri Bergson was a French philosopher known for his ideas on time, consciousness, and the nature of reality, particularly in his work 'Creative Evolution.'

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"Fortunately, some are born with spiritual immune systems that sooner or later give rejection to the illusory worldview grafted upon then from birth through social conditioning. They begin sensing that something is amiss, and start looking for answers. Inner knowledge and anomalous outer experiences show them a side of reality others are oblivious to, and so begins the journey of awakening. Each step of the journey is made by following the heart instead of the crowd, and by choosing knowledge over veils of ignorance."

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"The idea of the future, pregnant with an infinity of possibilities, is thus more fruitful than the future itself, and this is why we find more charm in hope than in possession, in dreams than in reality."

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