Degenerate

Famous quotes containing the word degenerate:

    In this distribution of functions, the scholar is the delegated intellect. In the right state, he is, Man Thinking. In the degenerate state, when the victim of society, he tends to become a mere thinker, or, still worse, the parrot of other men’s thinking.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    In the Church, considered as a social organism, the mysteries inevitably degenerate into beliefs.
    Simone Weil (1909–1943)

    Were it not for the corruption and viciousness of degenerate men, there would be no ... necessity that men should separate from this great and natural community, and by positive agreements combine into smaller and divided associations.
    John Locke (1632–1704)