Man adapts himself to everything, to the best and the worst.
Jose Ortega Y GassetRead
Life is a terrible conflict, a grandiose and atrocious confluence. Hunting submerges man deliberately in that formidable mystery and therefore contains something of religious rite and emotion in which homage is paid to what is divine, transcendent, and in the laws of Nature.
Interpretation
Life is a complex struggle that reveals deep mysteries, akin to a sacred ritual.
In this quote, Jose Ortega Y Gasset reflects on the inherent conflicts and challenges of life, suggesting that engaging with these difficulties brings us closer to understanding the profound mysteries of existence. He likens this engagement to a religious rite, emphasizing that through the act of 'hunting' or confronting life's struggles, individuals show reverence for the divine aspects of nature and reality.
In practice
This quote can inspire reflection during a philosophical discussion.
Man adapts himself to everything, to the best and the worst.
"Natural" man is always there, under the changeable historical man. We call him and he comes-a little sleepy, benumbed, without his lost form of instinctive hunter, but, after all, still alive. Natural man is first prehistoric man-the hunter.
We have not reached ethical perfection in hunting. One never achieves perfection in anything, and perhaps it exists precisely so that one can never achieve it. Its purpose is to orient our conduct and to allow us to measure the progress accomplished. In this sense, the advancement achieved in the ethics of hunting is undeniable.
I am myself and what is around me, and if I do not save it, it shall not save me.
We fall in love when our imagination projects nonexistent perfection upon another person. One day, the fantasy evaporates and with it, love dies.
We do not live to think, but, on the contrary, we think in order that we may succeed in surviving.
Consciousness ... is the phenomenon whereby the universe's very existence is made known.
We cannot expect that all nations will adopt like systems, for conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.
To live as one likes is plebian the noble man aspires to order and law.
Being a giver is not good for a 100-yard dash, but it’s valuable in a marathon.
Where destruction is the motive, unity is dangerous. For example, if I have evil intent and I galvanize that evil intent with many others, the capacity to destroy is immense. Where goodness is the motive, unity is phenomenal and actually has some good issues to it.
Everything that has form, everything that is the result of combination, is evolved out of this Akasha.
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