Nature smiles at the union of freedom and equality in our utopias. For freedom and equality are sworn and everlasting enemies, and when one prevails the other dies.
Will DurantRead
The ego is willing but the machine cannot go on. It's the last thing a man will admit, that his mind ages.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the conflict between one's ego and the limitations of their aging mind and body.
Will Durant's quote highlights the struggle between the desires of the ego and the reality of physical and mental decline that accompanies aging. It suggests that while one's willpower may remain strong, the capabilities of the body and mind may not support those ambitions, leading to an internal conflict that many are reluctant to acknowledge.
In practice
This quote can be used in a motivational speech about the realities of aging.
Nature smiles at the union of freedom and equality in our utopias. For freedom and equality are sworn and everlasting enemies, and when one prevails the other dies.
The greatest question of our time is not communism vs. individualism, not Europe vs. America, not even the East vs. the West; it is whether men can bear to live without God.
If we have never been amazed by the very fact that we exist, we are squandering the greatest fact of all.
Philosophy is harmonized knowledge making a harmonious life; it is the self-discipline which lifts us to serenity and freedom. Knowledge is power, but only wisdom is liberty.
If you wish to be loved, be modest; if you wish to be admired, be proud; if you wish both, combine external modesty with internal pride.
When liberty destroys order the hunger for order will destroy liberty.
We should realize in a vivid and revolutionary sense that we are not in our bodies but our bodies are in us.
In a world of democracies, in a world where the great projects that have set humanity on fire are the projects of the emancipation of individuals from entrenched social division and hierarchy; in such a world individuals must never be puppets or prisoners of the societies or cultures into which they have been born.
If the spiritual universe and the way to it were shown, No one would remain in this world for a single moment.
What we experience is our own concept of things. That is why no two people see quite the same world, and why, in many cases, different people see such different worlds. To put it another way, we make our own world by the way in which we think; for we really do live in a world of our own thoughts.
ORPHAN, n. A living person whom death has deprived of the power of filial ingratitude . . .
Language is never fully trustworthy, but when it comes to eating animals, words are as often used to misdirect and camouflage as they are to communicate. Some words, like veal, help us forget what we are actually talking about. Some, like free-range, can mislead those whose consciences seek clarification. Some, like happy, mean the opposite of what they would seem. And some, like natural, mean next to nothing.
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