They don't ask much of you. They only want you to hate the things you love and to love the things you despise.
Boris PasternakRead
I don't like purely philosophical works. I think a little philosophy should be added to life and art by way of seasoning, but to make it one's specialty seems to me as strange as eating nothing but horseradish." - Lara, from Doctor Zhivago
Interpretation
What this quote means
Philosophy should enhance life and art, not dominate them.
In this quote, Lara expresses the belief that while philosophy has its place in enriching our understanding of life and art, it should not be the sole focus of our existence. Just as seasoning enhances food, philosophy should add depth and flavor to our experiences rather than overshadow them entirely, as an exclusive diet of horseradish would be unpleasant.
Themes
PhilosophyArtLifeSeasoningExperience
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on life and art, this quote could illustrate how to balance ideas.
More from Boris Pasternak
All quotes →Even so, one step from my grave, I believe that cruelty, spite, The powers of darkness will in time, Be crushed by the spirit of light.
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He is her glory. Any woman could say it. For every one of them, God is in her child. Mothers of great men must have been familiar with this feeling, but then, all women are mothers of great men -- it isn't their fault if life disappoints them later.
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Our evenings are farewells. Our parties are testaments. So that the secret stream of suffering. May warm the cold of life.
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The most extraordinary discoveries are made when the artist is overwhelmed by what he has to say.
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Oh, how one wishes sometimes to escape from the meaningless dullness of human eloquence, from all those sublime phrases, to take refuge in nature, apparently so inarticulate, or in the wordlessness of long, grinding labor, of sound sleep, of true music, or of a human understanding rendered speechless by emotion!
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