Had the cub thought in man-fashion, he might have epitomized life as a voracious appetite, and the world as a place wherein ranged a multitude of appetites, pursuing and being pursued, hunting and being hunted, eating and being eaten, all in blindness and confusion, with violence and disorder, a chaos of gluttony and slaughter, ruled over by chance, merciless, planless, endless.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the chaotic and instinct-driven nature of life, suggesting that existence is dominated by a relentless pursuit of desires with little order or reason.
In this quote, Jack London examines the primal instincts that govern life, portraying existence as a struggle among various appetites where beings are constantly chasing one another in a state of confusion and violence. It emphasizes the lack of purpose and the randomness of life, suggesting that without conscious thought, life can appear as a chaotic fight for survival, underscored by a sense of futility and brutality.
In practice
This quote could be used in a discussion about the nature of existence in philosophy classes.
The hand descended. Nearer and nearer it came. It touched the ends of his upstanding hair. He shrank down under it. It followed down after him, pressing more closely against him. Shrinking, almost shivering. He still managed to hold himself together. It was a torment, this hand that touched him and violated his instinct. He could not forget in a day all the evil that had been wrought him at the hands of men.
He became quicker of movement than the other dogs, swifter of foot, craftier, deadlier, more lithe, more lean with ironlike muscle and sinew, more enduring, more cruel more ferocious, and more intelligent. He had to become all these things, else he would not have held his own nor survived the hostile environment in which he found himself.
But it did not all happen in a day, this giving over of himself, body and soul, to the man-animals. He could not immediately forego his wild heritage and his memories of the Wild. There were days when he crept to the edge of the forest and stood and listened to something calling him far and away.
Of her own experience she had no memory of the thing happening; but in her instinct, which was the experience of all mothers of wolves, there lurked a memory of fathers that had eaten their new-born and helpless progeny.
I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
His bondage had softened him. Irresponsibility had weakened him. He had forgotten how to shift for himself. The night yawned about him.
Worshipping God is the great essential of fitness. If you have not been worshipping...when you get to work you will not only be useless yourself, but a tremendous hindrance to those who are associated with you.
It may be said that the basic characteristic of human behavior in general is that humans personally influence their relations with the environment and through that environment personally change their behavior, subjugating it to their control.
We who were born were not witnesses to our birth: like death, it is something we are forever after trying to catch sight of.
In all people I see myself - none more, and not one a barleycorn less; And the good or bad I say of myself, I say of them.
It is both a right and a responsibility of a democratic society to manage immigration so that it serves the national interest.
You will never understand bureaucracies until you understand that for bureaucrats procedure is everything and outcomes are nothing.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.