Our whole being is nothing but a fight against the dark forces within ourselves.
Henrik IbsenRead
We're all just bags of bones and muscle and hormones; I'll never understand what makes our minds do the things we do. It's like that statue of the monkey holding a skull. We're trying to use a thing we don't understand to understand ourselves.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the complexity of human existence and consciousness.
Meshell Ndegeocello's quote delves into the enigmatic nature of humanity, suggesting that despite our physical composition as mere 'bags of bones and muscle and hormones,' the workings of our minds remain a profound mystery. The reference to the statue of a monkey holding a skull symbolizes our struggle to comprehend our own consciousness using the very intellect that we scarcely understand.
In practice
During a philosophy class discussion on the complexities of human existence.
Our whole being is nothing but a fight against the dark forces within ourselves.
Whether we eat, sleep, work, play, whatever we do life contains dissatisfaction, pain. If we enjoy pleasure, we are afraid to lose it; we strive for more and more pleasure or try to contain it. If we suffer pain we want to escape it. We experience dissatisfaction all the time. All activities contain dissatisfaction or pain, continuously.
Religion is like a knife: you can either use it to cut bread, or stick in someone's back.
The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists, who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood. The trailblazers in human, academic, scientific and religious freedom have always been nonconformists. In any cause that concerns the progress of mankind, put your faith in the nonconformist!
We who live in quiet places have the opportunity to become acquainted with ourselves, to think our own thoughts and live our own lives in a way that is not possible for those keeping up with the crowd.
America is not a country, it is a world.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.