True colors

I reveal myself in my true colors, as a stick-in-the-mud. I hold a
number of beliefs that have been repudiated by the liveliest
intellects of our time.

I believe order is better than chaos, creation better than
destruction. I prefer gentleness to violence, forgiveness to vendetta.
On the whole I think that knowledge is preferable to ignorance, and I
am sure that human sympathy is more valuable than ideology.

I believe that in spite of the recent triumphs of science, men have
not changed much in the last two thousand years; and in consequence we
must still try to learn from history. History is ourselves. I also
hold one or two beliefs that are more difficult to put shortly.

For example, I believe in courtesy, the ritual by which we avoid
hurting other people’s feelings by satisfying our own egos. I think we
should remember that we are part of a great whole, which for
convenience we call nature. All living things are our brothers and
sisters.

Above all, I believe in the God-given genius of certain individuals,
and I value a society that makes their existence possible.
- Kenneth Clark, Civilization, 1969