Definitions HQ

Logic (n.) not ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the idea overpowers an audience — seizing you "like a mighty tentacle" from whose grip you cannot tear yourself away.

Logic (n.) compels ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠like a bodily function: it is in the brain's structure to be forced to admit that two and two make four.

Logic (n.) told ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the Nazis that a government unwilling to shelter a few thousand Jews would not object when all its Jews were exterminated — perhaps logical, but not reasonable.

Logic (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the only capacity of mind that needs neither self nor others nor world — two and two make four even in absolute loneliness — the one empty "truth" the lonely can fall back on.

Logic (n.) becomes ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a tyranny when the mind submits to it as an endless process: the inner compulsion by which we coerce ourselves, surrendering inner freedom as one surrenders outward freedom to a tyrant.

Logic (n.) offers ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the lonely a last support: its inner compulsion to avoid contradiction seems to confirm a man's identity outside all relations, and fits him into the iron band of terror even when alone.

Logic (n.) turns ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the prohibition of contradiction "productive", used as a movement of thought instead of a control on thinking — forcing a whole line of thought on the mind that no new idea or experience can interrupt.