I am I plus my surroundings; and if I do not preserve the latter, I do not preserve myself.
Jose Ortega y GassetNobility is defined by the demands it makes on us - by obligations, not by rights. Noblesse oblige. 'To live as one likes is plebeian; the noble man aspires to order and law.'
Jose Ortega y GassetTowns are full of people, houses full of tenants, hotels full of guests, trains full of travelers, cafรฉs full of customers, parks full of promenaders, consulting-rooms of famous doctors full of patients, theatres full of spectators, and beaches full of bathers. What previously was, in general, no problem, now begins to be an everyday one, namely, to find room.
Jose Ortega y GassetThe common man, finding himself in a world so excellent, technically and socially, believes it has been produced by nature, and never thinks of the personal efforts of highly endowed individuals which the creation of this new world presupposed. Still less will he admit the notion that all these facilities still require the support of certain difficult human virtues, the least failure of which would cause the rapid disappearance of the whole magnificent edifice.
Jose Ortega y Gasset