p. 16
“

The nineteenth century, utilitarian throughout, set up a utilitarian interpretation of the phenomenon of life which has come down to us and may still be considered as the commonplace of everyday thinking. … An innate blindness seems to have closed the eyes of this epoch to all but those facts which show life as a phenomenon of utility

— José Ortega y Gasset

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "The nineteenth century, utilitarian throughout, set up a utilitarian interpretation of the phenomenon of life which has come down to us and may still be considered as the commonplace of everyday thinking. … An innate blindness seems to have closed the eyes of this epoch to all but those facts which show life as a phenomenon of utility" in the context of "p. 16" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "José Ortega y Gasset" (Quotes, History as a System (1962)) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
José Ortega y Gasset

About José Ortega y Gasset

José Ortega y Gasset (May 9 1883 – October 18 1955) was a Spanish philosopher.