Dost thou know what life is, my child? Hast thou comprehended the action of those springs which produce existence? Hast thou examined thyself?
Interpretation
This quote encourages deep reflection on the nature of life and existence.
In this quote, Jules Verne prompts the reader to engage in profound contemplation about life itself. He questions the understanding of existence and urges one to introspectively examine their own place in the world, suggesting that true comprehension of life involves both self-reflection and an appreciation of the forces that create it.
In practice
In a philosophy class discussing the nature of existence, this quote can spark a conversation about self-awareness.
Travel enables us to enrich our lives with new experiences, to enjoy and to be educated, to learn respect for foreign cultures, to establish friendships, and above all to contribute to international cooperation and peace throughout the world.
It is always a vulgar and often an unhealthy pastime, and it is a vice which does not go alone; the man who gambles will find himself capable of any evil.
Nothing can astound an American. It has often been asserted that the word 'impossible' is not a French one. People have evidently been deceived by the dictionary. In America, all is easy, all is simple; and as for mechanical difficulties, they are overcome before they arise.
However strong, however imposing a ship may appear, it is not 'disgraced' because it flies before the tempest. A commander ought always to remember that a man's life is worth more than the mere satisfaction of his own pride. In any case, to be obstinate is blameable, and to be wilful is dangerous.
The Yankees, the first mechanicians in the world, are engineers - just as the Italians are musicians and the Germans metaphysicians - by right of birth. Nothing is more natural, therefore, than to perceive them applying their audacious ingenuity to the science of gunnery.
Nothing is more dreadful than private duels in America. The two adversaries attack each other like wild beasts. Then it is that they might well covet those wonderful properties of the Indians of the prairies - their quick intelligence, their ingenious cunning, their scent of the enemy.
Compassion has enemies, and those enemies are things like pity, moral outrage, fear.
The words that come out of our mouths do not vanish but are perpetually stored in infinite space, and they will come back to us in due time.
Grown-ups love figures... When you tell them you've made a new friend they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you "What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies? " Instead they demand "How old is he? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father make? " Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him.
Reputation matters so much only because people so seldom think for themselves.
The pioneers and missionaries of religion have been the real cause of more trouble and war than all other classes of mankind.
People are crying up the rich and variegated plumage of the peacock, and he is himself blushing at the sight of his ugly feet.
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