Nicolás Gómez Dávila: Philosopher of Counter-Cultural Rebellion

"If the world is condemned to mediocrity, if heroes are no more than statues and mythical figures and if adventure is for madmen then let us condemn ourselves to glory, let us become myth and let us be madmen, for the herd is already too numerous." — Nicolás Gómez Dávila

About the Author

Nicolás Gómez Dávila (1913-1994) was a Colombian philosopher and aphorist known as "Don Colacho" to his admirers. Unlike many public intellectuals, Gómez Dávila was famously reclusive, preferring to work from his personal library of over 30,000 volumes rather than in academic institutions. His masterwork, "Escolios a un Texto Implícito" (Scholia to an Implicit Text), contains thousands of aphorisms that offer biting critiques of modernity, democracy, and progressive thinking.

Gómez Dávila's philosophy embraces aristocratic values and rejects what he saw as the spiritual emptiness of contemporary society. Though often labeled a conservative, his thinking defies simple categorization, combining elements of traditionalism with a radical willingness to stand against prevailing currents of thought.

This particular quote exemplifies his counter-cultural stance, rejecting mediocrity and conformity while celebrating those willing to be viewed as "madmen" by conventional society. The quote's celebration of glory, myth, and adventure over safety and conformity resonates powerfully with creative rebels and intellectual outsiders.

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