QuoteProject
The day of the absolute is over, and we're in for the strange gods once more.
D. H. Lawrence
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote reflects a shift from certainty to ambiguity in human beliefs and values.

D. H. Lawrence suggests that the era of clear, unequivocal truths—referred to as the 'absolute'—has ended. Instead, we find ourselves confronting a multitude of uncertain and complex beliefs, depicted as 'strange gods,' highlighting the chaotic nature of contemporary existence and the diversity of interpretations that accompany it.

Themes

BeliefsAmbiguityValuesPhilosophyChange

In practice

Example use cases

During a lecture on modern philosophy, you might quote this to illustrate the shift in societal values.

More from D. H. Lawrence

God how I hate new countries: They are older than the old, more sophisticated, much more conceited, only young in a certain puerile vanity more like senility than anything.
D. H. LawrenceRead
A young man is afraid of his demon and puts his hand over the demon's mouth sometimes and speaks for him. And the things the young man says are very rarely poetry.
D. H. LawrenceRead
And besides, look at elder flowers and bluebells-they are a sign that pure creation takes place - even the butterfly. But humanity never gets beyond the caterpillar stage -it rots in the chrysalis, it never will have wings.It is anti-creation, like monkeys and baboons.
D. H. LawrenceRead
The Christian fear of the pagan outlook has damaged the whole consciousness of man.
D. H. LawrenceRead
The cosmos is a vast living body, of which we are still parts. The sun is a great heart whose tremors run through our smallest veins. The moon is a great nerve center from which we quiver forever. Who knows the power that Saturn has over us, or Venus? But it is a vital power, rippling exquisitely through us all the time.
D. H. LawrenceRead
... he preferred his own madness, to the regular sanity. He rejoiced in his own madness, he was free. He did not want that old sanity of the world, which was become so repulsive. He rejoiced in the new-found world of his madness. It was so fresh and delicate and so satisfying.
D. H. LawrenceRead

Similar quotes

Most Christians pray to be blessed. Few pray to be broken.
Leonard RavenhillRead
For everyone nowadays knows, absolutely is CERTAIN, that nothing bad will ever happen to ME. Others die, I go on. There are no consequences and no responsibilities. Except that there ARE. But let's not talk about them, eh? By the time the consequences catch up to you, it's too late, isn't it, Montag?
Ray BradburyRead
If you are never alone you cannot know yourself. And if you do not know yourself, you will begin to fear the void.
Paulo CoelhoRead
The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.
H. L. MenckenRead
[God] will not be used as a convenience. Men or nations who think they can revive the Faith in order to make a good society might just as well think they can use the stairs of heaven as a shortcut to the nearest chemist's shop.
C. S. LewisRead
Sweetness is the opposite of machismo, which is everywhere-and I really don't get on with machismo. I'm interested in sensitivity, and weakness, and fear, and anxiety, because I think that, at the end of the day, behind our masks, that's what we are.
Alain De BottonRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.