They say you can't study Kabbalah until you are at least 40 years old. You know why? You have to have experienced at least one generation making the same mistakes as the previous one.
David MametRead
Every reiteration of the idea that nothing matters debases the human spirit.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that constant reminders of life's meaninglessness can diminish our spirit and motivation.
David Mamet's quote emphasizes the detrimental effects of nihilistic ideas on the human spirit. When individuals are repeatedly confronted with the notion that nothing has inherent value or significance, it can lead to a sense of despair and a lack of purpose. This underscores the importance of finding meaning and value in life, as dismissing these concepts can undermine our drive and happiness.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of finding personal meaning, one might quote Mamet to highlight the dangers of nihilistic thinking.
They say you can't study Kabbalah until you are at least 40 years old. You know why? You have to have experienced at least one generation making the same mistakes as the previous one.
My alma mater is the Chicago Public Library. I got what little educational foundation I got in the third-floor reading room, under the tutelage of a Coca-Cola sign.
You know, young actors say all the time, 'Should I use my own life experience?' And my response is, 'What choice do you have?'
It's hard for a Jew of my generation, an American Jew, who is philo-Zionistic, not to romanticize Israel.
You can't write about history without writing about politics at some point. History is about movements of people. 'What is criminality and what is government' is a theme that runs through every history.
The subject of drama is The Lie. At the end of the drama THE TRUTH -- which has been overlooked, disregarded, scorned, and denied -- prevails. And that is how we know the Drama is done.
Who would then deny that when I am sipping tea in my tearoom I am swallowing the whole universe with it and that this very moment of my lifting the bowl to my lips is eternity itself transcending time and space?
A prophet is not someone with special visions, just someone blind to most of what others see
Jews read the books of Moses not just as history but as divine command. The question to which they are an answer is not, 'What happened?' but rather, 'How then shall I live?' And it's only with the exodus that the life of the commands really begins.
You ask what my conclusions are, rereading my journals and looking back on World War II from the vantage point of quarter century in time? We won the war in a military sense; but in a broader sense, it seems to me we lost it, for our Western civilization is less respected and secure than it was before.
The greatness of man is great in that he knows himself to be wretched. A tree does not know itself to be wretched.
To destroy Christianity, we must first destroy the British Empire.
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