Living substance conquers the frenzy of destruction only in the ecstasy of procreation.
Walter BenjaminRead
All human knowledge takes the form of interpretation.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Our understanding of knowledge is shaped by our interpretations rather than being an absolute truth.
Walter Benjamin's quote highlights the idea that human knowledge is not merely an accumulation of facts but is profoundly influenced by individual perspectives and interpretations. It suggests that the way we perceive and understand information is subjective, shaped by our experiences, biases, and cultural contexts, leading to a diverse range of understandings and meanings derived from the same set of data or events.
Themes
KnowledgeInterpretationUnderstandingPerspectiveSubjectivity
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about cultural differences in understanding art, this quote can be mentioned to emphasize subjective interpretations.
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All quotes →The illiterate of the future will not be the man who cannot read the alphabet, but the one who cannot take a photograph.
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If mythic violence is lawmaking, divine violence is law-destroying; if the former sets boundaries, the latter boundlessly destroys them; if mythic violence brings at once guilt and retribution, divine power only expiates; if the former threatens, the latter strikes; if the former is bloody, the latter is lethal without spilling blood
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Writers are really people who write books not because they are poor, but because they are dissatisfied with the books which they could buy but do not like.
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Nothing is poorer than a truth expressed as it was thought. Committed to writing in such cases, it is not even a bad photograph. Truth wants to be startled abruptly, at one stroke, from her self-immersion, whether by uproar, music or cries for help.
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I am unpacking my library. Yes I am. The books are not yet on the shelves, not yet touched by the mild boredom of order.
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All discourse of which others cannot partake is not only an irksome usurpation of the time devoted to pleasure and entertainment, but, what never fails to excite resentment, an insolent assertion of superiority, and a triumph over less enlightened understandings. The pedant is, therefore, not only heard with weariness but malignity; and those who conceive themselves insulted by his knowledge never fail to tell with acrimony how injudiciously it was exerted.
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It is much more valuable to look for the strength in others. You can gain nothing by criticizing their imperfections.
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