The gods are fugitive guests of literature.
Roberto CalassoRead
We establish a connection with the unknown through the act of giving something and, paradoxically, the act of destroying something. That is what is behind sacrifice. What you offer and what you destroy, it is that surplus which is life itself.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the dual nature of sacrifice as both giving and destroying, which connects us to the essence of life.
Roberto Calasso's quote explores the profound human experience of sacrifice, suggesting that by giving something up or destroying something, we form a connection with the unknown aspects of existence. This dual act of offering and destruction reveals a deeper layer of life, representing a surplus that transcends mere existence, allowing us to touch and understand the complexities of our nature and the world around us.
Themes
SacrificeGivingDestroyingLifeConnectionUnknown
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about charity and generosity, this quote highlights the importance of sacrifice in establishing connections.
More from Roberto Calasso
All quotes →Myth is never a single story. It is always a tree with many branches.
Roberto CalassoRead
Whatever else it might be, the divine is certainly the thing that imposes with maximum intensity the sensation of being alive.
Roberto CalassoRead
Stories never live alone; They are the branches of a family that we have to trace back, and forward.
Roberto CalassoRead
The monster does not need the hero. it is the hero who needs him for his very existence. When the hero confronts the monster, he has yet neither power nor knowledge, the monster is his secret father who will invest him with a power and knowledge that can belong to one man only, and that only the monster can give.
Roberto CalassoRead
Similar quotes
The world remains beset by so much human suffering, poverty and deprivation. It is in your hands to make of our world a better one for all, especially the poor, vulnerable and marginalised.
Nelson MandelaRead
Part of being in New York is being able to brag about what used to be there.
Colson WhiteheadRead
For in that universal call,_x000D_ _x000D_ Few bankers will to heaven be mounters;_x000D_ _x000D_ They'll cry, "Ye shops, upon us fall!_x000D_ _x000D_ Conceal and cover us, ye counters!_x000D_ _x000D_ When other hands the scales shall hold,_x000D_ _x000D_ And they, in men's and angels' sight_x000D_ _x000D_ Produced with all their bills and gold,_x000D_ _x000D_ 'Weigh'd in the balance and found light!'
Jonathan SwiftRead
The answer to the problem of inequality is for the people who are fortunate enough to either have been gifted or deserved more to do everything they can to make the communities around them as strong as they possibly can.
Jordan PetersonRead
Having a mind that is open to everything and attached to nothing seems to me to be one of the most basic principles that you can adopt to contribute to individual and world peace.
Wayne DyerRead
Television knows no night. It is perpetual day. TV embodies our fear of the dark, of night, of the other side of things.
Jean BaudrillardRead