We humans are more concerned with having than with being.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that people often prioritize material possessions over true existence and self-awareness.
Morgan Freeman's quote highlights a common tendency among humans to focus on accumulating possessions and wealth instead of engaging in deeper introspection and understanding of one's being. The distinction between 'having' and 'being' invites reflection on the values we hold and encourages us to seek fulfillment through self-awareness, relationships, and personal growth rather than through material success alone.
In practice
In a discussion about consumerism and its impact on mental health, this quote can emphasize the importance of focusing on inner values.
Freeman denied the claim that he was a βman of Godβ, saying that βthe question of faith is whatever you actually believe is. We take a lot of what we're talking about in science on faith; we posit a theory, and until it's dis-proven we have faith that it's true. If the mathematics work out, then it's true, until it's proven to be untrue.
I do know there are a lot of people who seem to be in my corner, and that's, of course, wonderful. I'm really more interested in the nomination than in the award, because I think the nomination just puts you within a group of outstanding actors.
Fatigue, discomfort, discouragement are merely symptoms of effort.
Don't be afraid of what you want. This is your time. The barriers are down.
Donald Trump is the Honey Boo Boo of rich people.
Dr. Martin Luther King is not a black hero. He is an American hero.
It is their character indeed that makes people who they are. But it is by reason of their actions that they are happy or the reverse.
I think if a physician wrote on a death certificate that old age was the cause of death, he'd be thrown out of the union. There is always some final event, some failure of an organ, some last attack of pneumonia, that finishes off a life. No one dies of old age.
Better to sleep in an uncomfortable bed free, than sleep in a comfortable bed unfree.
Agency, or the power to choose, was ours as spirit children of our Creator before the world was. It is a gift from God, nearly as precious as life itself. Often, however, agency is misunderstood. While we are free to choose, once we have made those choices, we are tied to the consequence of those choices. We are free to take drugs or not. But once we choose to use a habit-forming drug, we are bound to the consequences of that choice. Addiction surrenders later freedom to choose.
It may be that we have become so feckless as a people that we no longer care how things do work, but only what kind of quick, easy outer impression they give. If so, there is little hope for our cities or probably for much else in our society. But I do not think this is so.
Animals have a much better attitude to life and death than we do. They know when their time has come. We are the ones that suffer when they pass, but it's a healing kind of grief that enables us to deal with other griefs that are not so easy to grab hold of.
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