In the course of my intellectual life I experienced very acutely the problem of whether it isn't actually presumptuous to say that we can know the truth - in the face of all our limitations. I also asked myself to what extent it might not be better to suppress this category. In pursuing this question, however, I was able to observe and also to grasp that relinquishing truth doesn't solve anything but, on the contrary, leads to the tyranny of caprice. In that case, the only thing that can remain is really what we decide on and can replace at will. Man is degraded if he can't know truth, if everything, in the final analysis, is just the product of an individual or collective decision. In this way it became clear to me how important it is that we don't lose the concept of truth, in spite of the menaces and perils that it doubtless carries with it. It has to remain as a central category. As a demand on us that doesn't give us rights but requires, on the contrary, our humility and our obedience and can lead us to the common path. Pope Benedict XVI
About This Quote

I have always felt that "keeping one's head" is a moral precept which should be treated with great respect, but I also believe that it is possible to put one's ego in its place. When I speak of the importance of keeping one's head, I am not speaking in terms of being able to intellectually grasp the truth. All intellectual understanding is always contingent upon the historical context, the time in which you are living. It should never be thought that one can arrive at absolute truth by pure reason alone.

Truth may be sought for, but it should always be sought humbly - not arrogantly or dogmatically. The marketplace should always remain open, but the marketplace should always be treated with great respect. You always have to keep your head in order to avoid becoming an automaton and losing your ethical and moral sense of responsibility and conscience.

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  2. Purity of heart is what enables us to see.
  3. In the course of my intellectual life I experienced very acutely the problem of whether it isn't actually presumptuous to say that we can know the truth - in the face of all our limitations. I also asked myself to what extent it might not...
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