We're our own dragons as well as our own heroes, and we have to rescue ourselves from ourselves.
It's hard to say who's a greater threat to the world, an ambitious CEO with a big ad budget or a crafty cleric with an obsolete Bible verse.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that both corporate interests and outdated beliefs can pose significant threats to society.
In this quote, Tom Robbins presents a thought-provoking comparison between two potential threats to the world: powerful corporate leaders who leverage their influence and resources, and religious figures who may misuse outdated doctrines. It encourages readers to reconsider who we perceive as dangerous and highlights the complexities of influence in modern society, drawing attention to the impact of both economic power and ideological rigidity.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on corporate ethics in business classes, this quote could be cited to illustrate the dangers of unchecked ambition.
More from Tom Robbins
All quotes βThere are many things worth living for, a few things worth dying for, and nothing worth killing for.
The unhappy person resents it when you try to cheer him up, because that means he has to stop dwelling on himself and start paying attention to the universe. Unhappiness is the ultimate form of self-indulgence. When you're unhappy, you get to pay a lot of attention to yourself. You get to take yourself oh so very seriously.
I'm an outlaw, not a philosopher, but I know this much: there's meaning in everything, all things are connected, and a good champagne is a drink.' Bernard began to sing again. Timidly, Leigh-Cheri joined in. Between verses, they opened another bottle. The popping of its cork echoed throughout the great stone chamber. Of the three billion people on earth, only Bernard and Leigh-Cheri heard the popping of the cork and its echoes. Only Bernard and Leigh-Cheri passed out under the tablecloth.
The Divine was beyond description, beyond knowing, beyond comprehension. To say that the Divine was Creation divided by Destruction was as close as one could come to definition. But the puny of soul, the dull of wit, weren't content with that. They wanted to hang a face on the Divine. They went so far as to attribute petty human emotions - anger, jealousy, etc - to it, not stopping to realize that if God were a being, even a supreme being, our prayers would have bored him to death long ago.
On their sofas of spice and feathers, the concubines also slept fretfully. In those days the Earth was still flat, and people dreamed often of falling over edges.
Similar quotes
What kind of times are they, when A talk about trees is almost a crime Because it implies silence about so many horrors?
Well, I know, of course, how important it is not to keep a business engagement, if one wants to retain any sense of the beauty of life.
Every little increase in human freedom has been fought over ferociously between those who want us to know more and be wiser and stronger, and those who want us to obey and be humble and submit.
Living substance conquers the frenzy of destruction only in the ecstasy of procreation.
In the West, we have been withdrawing from our tradition-, religion-, and even nation-centred cultures.
Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely consistent people are dead.