"Since very few people school themselves in the use of reason beyond the calculation of self-interest..."

“Since very few people school themselves in the use of reason beyond the calculation of self-interest encouraged by the regime, They need help on a vast number of issues. … some kind of authority is often necessary for most men and women. In the absence of anything else, it is not the case. This is just where tradition is used. …The active presence of a tradition in a man’s soul gives him a resource against the ephemeral, the kind of resource that only the wise can find simply within themselves. The paradoxical result of the liberation of reason is greater reliance on public opinion for guidance, a weakening of independence.”

- Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind

from Stowe Boyd http://www.stoweboyd.com/post/153724509927