William Irwin Thompson Quotes

United States, Philosopher
July 16, 1938 – November, 8, 2020.

William Irwin Thompson was known primarily as a social philosopher and cultural critic, but he has also been writing and publishing poetry throughout his career and received the Oslo International Poetry Festival Award in 1986. He describes his writing and speaking style as "mind-jazz on ancient texts". He is the founder of the Lindisfarne Association.

Also known as Critic, Poet, Writer

The future is beyond knowing, but the present is beyond belief.

William Irwin Thompson
- Belief
- Knowing
With the emergence of civilization, the rate of change shifted from hundreds of thousands of years to millennia. With the emergence of science as a way of knowing the universe, the rate of change shifted to centuries.

William Irwin Thompson
- Change
- Universe
- Century

If you do not create your destiny, you will have your fate inflicted upon you.

William Irwin Thompson
- Moving
- Destiny
- Fate
Hominid and human evolution took place over millions and not billions of years, but with the emergence of language there was a further acceleration of time and the rate of change.

William Irwin Thompson
The more chaos there is, the more science holds on to abstract systems of control, and the more chaos is engendered.

William Irwin Thompson
- Science
- Chaos
- Abstract
The teacher of history's work should be, ideally, not simply a description of past cultures, but a performance of the culture in which we live and are increasingly taking our being.

William Irwin Thompson
- Past
- Culture
- Teacher
What is at the higher levels of meaning consciousness is like a hyperspace in which each point is equidistant from the other and where 'the center is everywhere and the circumference is nowhere'? The mythologies of the occult seem like baroque music: there is an overall similar quality of sound and movement, but, upon examination, each piece of music is unique; Vivaldi and Scarlatti are similar and different.

William Irwin Thompson
- Different
- Quality
- Unique
The conscious purpose of science is control of Nature; its unconscious effect is disruption and chaos.

William Irwin Thompson
- Nature
- Purpose
- Chaos