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Form as a goal always ends in formalism. For this striving is directed not towards an inside, but towards an outside. But only a living inside has a living outside.
Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The essence of achieving goals lies in internal motivation rather than mere external appearances.

This quote by Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe emphasizes the importance of internal growth and authenticity over mere formalistic achievements. It suggests that when pursuits are motivated by external validation rather than inner truths, they can become hollow and lack genuine substance, indicating that true vitality stems from a deep, internal foundation.

Themes

GoalsAuthenticityInternalExternalGrowth

In practice

Example use cases

In a motivational speech about personal development and achieving true success.

More from Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe

We should attempt to bring nature, houses, and human beings together in a higher unity.
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Architecture depends on facts, but its real field of activity lies in the realm of the significance.
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The demands of the time for objectivity and functionality must be fulfilled. If that clearly happens, then the buildings of our day will convey the greatness of which the age is capable, and only a fool will maintain that they lack it.
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I think that an industrial process is not like a rubber stamp. Everything has to be put together and, as such, should have its own expression.
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Reinforced concrete buildings are by nature skeletal buildings. No noodles nor armoured turrets. A construction of girders that carry the weight, and walls that carry no weight. That is to say, buildings consisting of skin and bones.
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Modern buildings of our time are so huge that one must group them. Often the space between these buildings is as important as the buildings themselves.
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