To live fully, outwardly and inwardly, not to ignore the external reality for the sake of the inner life, or the reverse, that's quite a task
Etty HillesumRead
We have to fight them daily, lake fleas, those many small worries about the morrow, for they sap our energies.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Small worries can drain our energy and distract us from living fully.
Etty Hillesum's quote highlights the importance of confronting daily worries that seem insignificant, akin to lake fleas. These minor concerns about the future can accumulate and deplete our vitality, preventing us from focusing on what truly matters and living our lives to the fullest.
Themes
WorryEnergyFutureDaily StrugglesMindfulness
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about mental health, one could say, 'As Etty Hillesum reminds us, we have to fight our daily worries that drain our energies.'
More from Etty Hillesum
All quotes βThinking gets you nowhere. It may be a fine and noble aid in academic studies, but you can't think your way out of emotional difficulties. That takes something altogether different. You have to make yourself passive then, and just listen. Re-establish contact with a slice of eternity.
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The more peace there is in us, the more peace there will be in our troubled world.
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Each of us must turn inward and destroy in himself all that he thinks he ought to destroy in others.
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I think what weakens people most is fear of wasting their strength.
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I really see no other solution than to turn inwards and to root out all the rottenness there. I no longer believe that we can change anything in the world until we first change ourselves. And that seems to me the only lesson to be learned.
Etty HillesumRead
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