Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind, p. 381. (1987)
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The real community of man, in the midst of all the self-contradictory simulacra of community, is the community of those who seek the truth, of the potential knowers, that is, in principle, of all men to the extent they desire to know. But in fact this includes only a few, the true friends, as Plato was to Aristotle at the very moment they were disagreeing about the nature of the good. Their common concern for the good linked them; their disagreement about it proved they needed one another to understand it. They were absolutely one soul as they looked at the problem. This, according to Plato, is the only real friendship, the only real common good.

— Allan Bloom on Truth

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "The real community of man, in the midst of all the self-contradictory simulacra of community, is the community of those who seek the truth, of the potential knowers, that is, in principle, of all men to the extent they desire to know. But in fact this includes only a few, the true friends, as Plato was to Aristotle at the very moment they were disagreeing about the nature of the good. Their common concern for the good linked them; their disagreement about it proved they needed one another to understand it. They were absolutely one soul as they looked at the problem. This, according to Plato, is the only real friendship, the only real common good." in the context of "Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind, p. 381. (1987)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Truth" (B) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Allan Bloom

About Allan Bloom

Allan David Bloom (14 September, 1930 in Indianapolis, Indiana – 7 October, 1992 in Chicago, Illinois) was an American philosopher, essayist and academic. Bloom championed education based on the study of 'Great Books', as did his mentor Leo Strauss. He criticised contemporary American higher education in his 1987 book, The Closing of the American Mind, which became a bestseller.