The most agonising thing is to drop doubt into a man about his being a reality, three-dimensional - and not some other kind of reality.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the profound struggle of self-identity and the fear of questioning one's own existence.
Yevgeny Zamyatin's quote speaks to the deep existential crisis that arises when an individual begins to doubt the very nature of their own reality and existence. It captures the anguish of feeling uncertain about one's identity and essence, suggesting that such doubt can be one of the most painful experiences a person can endure. This reflection on reality encourages a deeper exploration of what it means to exist authentically within a complex and often confusing world.
In practice
In a philosophical discussion about the nature of reality, one might use this quote to emphasize the struggle of self-identification.
The knife is the most durable, immortal, the most genius thing that man created. The knife was the guillotine; the knife is the universal means of solving all knots; and along the blade of a knife lies the path of paradox - the single most worthy path of the fearless mind.
Accentuated plainness and accentuated vice ought to bring about harmony. Beauty lies in harmony, in style, whether it be the harmony of ugliness or beauty, vice or virtue.
The world is kept alive only by heretics: the heretic Christ, the heretic Copernicus, the heretic Tolstoy. Our symbol of faith is heresy...
The lilac branches are bowed under the weight of the flowers: blooming is hard, and the most important thing is - to bloom. (βA Story About The Most Important Thingβ)
A man is like a novel: until the very last page you don't know how it will end. Otherwise it wouldn't be worth reading.
Knowledge, absolutely sure of its infallibility, is faith.
To guarantee the individual maximum freedom within a social frame of minimal laws ensures - if not happiness - its hopeful pursuit.
Southern women often marry a man knowing that he is the father of many little slaves. They do not trouble themselves about it.
The judge is not the knight-errant, roaming at will in pursuit of his own ideal of beauty or of goodness.
Unsatisfied desire is the characteristic feature of human life. That is the common fact out of which both pessimism and optimism are constructed. Dwell on the impossibility of ever getting a state of complete and permanent satisfaction with what you have, and you become a pessimist. Dwell on the opportunity for endless growth and conquest which this same fact makes possible, and you become an optimist.
Free speech is the bedrock of liberty and a free society. And yes, it includes the right to blaspheme and offend.
Pleasure is not the purpose of man's existence. Joy is.
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