The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of self-acceptance and questioning societal norms that negatively affect self-worth.
Morrie Schwartz highlights that the prevailing culture often promotes negativity and dissatisfaction with oneself. He advocates for the strength to reject societal pressures and standards that do not foster self-esteem and personal happiness, urging individuals to cultivate their own sense of worth regardless of external influences.
In practice
In a motivational speech about self-acceptance and individuality.
People are only mean when they're threatened… and that's what our culture does. That's what our economy does. Even people who have jobs in our economy are threatened, because they worry about losing them. And when you get threatened, you start looking out only for yourself. You start making money a god. It is all part of this culture.
The best way to deal with that is to live in a fully conscious, compassionate, loving way. Don't wait until you're on your deathbed to recognize that this is the only way to live.
Now that I'm suffering, I feel closer to people who suffer more than I ever did before. The other night, on TV, I saw people in Bosnia running across the street, getting fired upon, killed, innocent victims....and I just started to cry. I feel their anguish as if it were my own. I don't know any of these people. But - how can I put this? I'm almost......drawn to them.
Do the kind of things that come from the heart, When you do, you won't be dissatisfied, you won't be envious, you won't be longing for somebody else's things. On the contrary, you'll be overhelmed with what comes back
It’s natural to die. The fact that we make such a big hullabaloo over it is all because we don’t see ourselves as part of nature. We think because we’re human we’re something above nature.
When you look at it that way, you can see how absurd it is that we individualize ourselves with our fences and hoarded possessions.
Many have become chess masters - no one has become the master of chess.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? - Who will watch the watchers?
Yes, know thyself: in great concerns or small, be this thy care, for this, my friend, is all.
Shortly, the public will be unable to reason or think for themselves. They'll only be able to parrot the information they've been given on the previous night's news.
When someone tells you they’ve just bought a house, they might as well tell you they no longer have a personality. You can immediately assume so many things: that they’re locked into jobs they hate; that they’re broke; that they spend every night watching videos; that they’re fifteen pounds overweight; that they no longer listen to new ideas. It’s profoundly depressing.
The first sign of corruption in a society that is still alive is that the end justifies the means.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.