Colin Wilson
Colin Wilson
Colin Henry Wilsonwas an English writer, philosopher and novelist. He also wrote widely on true crime, mysticism and the paranormal. Wilson called his philosophy "new existentialism" or "phenomenological existentialism", and maintained his life work was "that of a philosopher, andpurpose to create a new and optimistic existentialism"...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth26 June 1931
discipline vision world
The visionary disciplines himself to see the world always as if he had only just seen it for the first time.
discovery illumination world
The exploration of oneself is usually also an exploration of the world at large, of other writers, a process of comparison with oneself with others, discoveries of kinships, gradual illumination of one's own potentialities.
men world lines
As a young man I was scornful about the supernatural but as I have got older, the sharp line that divided the credible from the incredible has tended to blur; I am aware that the whole world is slightly incredible
simple perception world
Simple perception then is a fallacy. Besides the conscious prejudices that we are aware of imposing on the world, there are a thousand subconscious prejudices that we assume to be actuality.
morning eye world
When I open my eyes in the morning, I am not confronted by a world, but by a million possible worlds.
believe world decline
I had never doubted my own abilities, but I was quite prepared to believe that "the world" would decline to recognize them.
ask control hell life miller says seems wrong
Dr. Miller says we are pessimistic because life seems like a very bad, very screwed-up film. If you ask "What the hell is wrong with the projector?" and go up to the control room, you find it's empty. You are the projectionist, and you should have been up there all the time.
problem
The problem is everywhere. You're never going to get away from it.
afraid concerned far interested main problems public tend typecast understood writer
One of my main problems as far as the public is concerned is that I've always been interested in too many things, ... and if they can't typecast you as a writer on this or that, then I'm afraid you tend not to be understood at all.
believe passion self
The "passion for incredulity" can produce as much self-deception as the uncritical will to believe.
reading listening needs
Sexual activity is driven by the same aims and motives as reading poetry or listening to music: to escape the limitations imposed by the need for particularity in the consciousness.
men self he-man
The self-surmounter can never put up with the man who has ceased to be dissatisfied with himself.
literature outsiders conflict
I've always believed that a writer has got to remain an outsider. If I was offered anything like the Nobel Prize for Literature, I'd find it an extremely difficult conflict because I'd be basically disinclined to accept.
believe thinking objectivity
No matter how honest scientists think they are, they are still influenced by various unconscious assumptions that prevent them from attaining true objectivity. Expressed in a sentence, Fort 's principle goes something like this: People with a psychological need to believe in marvels are no more prejudiced and gullible than people with a psychological need not to believe in marvels.