Nature smiles at the union of freedom and equality in our utopias. For freedom and equality are sworn and everlasting enemies, and when one prevails the other dies.
Will DurantRead
The most interesting thing in the world is another human being who wonders, suffers and raises the questions that have bothered him to the last day of his life, knowing he will never get the answers.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Human curiosity and the quest for understanding are essential to our existence.
This quote by Will Durant emphasizes the profound nature of human beings and their existential struggles. It suggests that the essence of life lies in the questions we pose about our existence and the inherent suffering that accompanies our search for answers, reminding us that the journey of inquiry itself is what truly enriches our lives, even when answers remain elusive.
Themes
HumanCuriosityQuestionsExistenceSufferingAnswers
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of inquiry in education.
More from Will Durant
All quotes →The greatest question of our time is not communism vs. individualism, not Europe vs. America, not even the East vs. the West; it is whether men can bear to live without God.
Will DurantRead
If we have never been amazed by the very fact that we exist, we are squandering the greatest fact of all.
Will DurantRead
Philosophy is harmonized knowledge making a harmonious life; it is the self-discipline which lifts us to serenity and freedom. Knowledge is power, but only wisdom is liberty.
Will DurantRead
If you wish to be loved, be modest; if you wish to be admired, be proud; if you wish both, combine external modesty with internal pride.
Will DurantRead
When liberty destroys order the hunger for order will destroy liberty.
Will DurantRead
Similar quotes
But then, I suppose, when with the benefit of hindsight one begins to search one's past for such 'turning points', one is apt to start seeing them everywhere.
Kazuo IshiguroRead
The moral certitude of the state in wartime is a kind of fundamentalism. And this dangerous messianic brand of religion, one where self-doubt is minimal, has come increasingly to color the modern world of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.
Chris HedgesRead
There are some who maintain that trade will regulate itself, and it is not to be benefited by the encouragements or restraints of government. Such persons will imagine that there is no need of a common directing power. This is one of those wild speculative paradoxes, which have grown into credit among us, contrary to the uniform practice and sense of the most enlightened nations.
Alexander HamiltonRead
What does it mean to be true to the faith? That word true implies commitment, integrity, endurance, and courage.
Dallin H. OaksRead
The heart of a Christian, like the moon, commonly suffers an eclipse when it is at the full, and that by the interposition of the earth.
John FlavelRead
When the doors of perception are cleansed, men will see things as they truly are, infinite.
William BlakeRead