George Santayana 1863 – 1952
George Santayana was a Spanish-born American philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. Educated at Harvard alongside William James and Josiah Royce, he taught there for more than two decades before retiring at fifty to live and write in Europe. His five-volume Life of Reason offered a naturalistic account of human achievement in society, religion, art, and science, while The Sense of Beauty was the first systematic American treatise on aesthetics. His later Realms of Being developed an austere ontology of essence, matter, truth, and spirit. He died in Rome at eighty-eight, never having taken American citizenship.
Key facts
- Nationality
- Spanish-American
- Era
- Contemporary
- Movements
- Pragmatism
Selected quotes
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Attributed to George Santayana:
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
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Attributed to George Santayana:
“There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval.”
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Attributed to George Santayana:
“Skepticism, like chastity, should not be relinquished too readily.”
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Attributed to George Santayana:
“Fanaticism consists in redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim.”
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Attributed to George Santayana:
“The earth has its music for those who will listen.”