I have a different idea of a universal. It is of a universal rich with all that is particular, rich with all the particulars there are, the deepening of each particular, the coexistence of them all.
Aime CesaireRead
A man screaming is not a dancing bear. Life is not a spectacle.
Interpretation
Life is not just a performance for entertainment; it is a serious experience.
Aime Cesaire's quote highlights the importance of recognizing the depth and seriousness of life rather than viewing it as mere entertainment or a performance. The imagery of a person screaming juxtaposed with a dancing bear suggests that human emotions and experiences are profound and complex, underscoring the need for authenticity and genuine understanding in our lives.
In practice
In a motivational speech about embracing genuine experiences over superficial ones.
I have a different idea of a universal. It is of a universal rich with all that is particular, rich with all the particulars there are, the deepening of each particular, the coexistence of them all.
Africa, help me to go home, carry me like an aged child in your arms. Undress me and wash me. Strip me of all of these garments, strip me as a man strips off dreams when the dawn comes. . . .
It is no use painting the foot of the tree white, the strength of the bark cries out from beneath the paint.
I am talking about societies drained of their essence, cultures trampled underfoot, institutions undermined, lands confiscated, religions smashed, magnificent artistic creations destroyed, extraordinary possibilities wiped out.
The deceitfulness of the heart of man appears in no one thing so much as this of spiritual pride and self-righteousness. The subtlety of Satan appears in its height, in his managing persons with respect to this sin. And perhaps one reason may be that here he has most experience; he knows the way of its coming in; he is acquainted with the secret springs of it: it was his own sin. Experience gives vast advantage in leading souls, either in good or evil.
When a government controls both the economic power of individuals and the coercive power of the state ... this violates a fundamental rule of happy living: Never let the people with all the money and the people with all the guns be the same people.
When You Hold Onto Your History, You Do It At The Expense Of Your Destiny.
Life is livable because we know that wherever we go most of the people we meet will be restrained in their actions towards us by an almost instinctive network of taboos.
The paternalist is a sentimentalist at heart, and the sentimentalist is always potentially cruel.
...I sense that stepping into the light is also a powerful metaphor for consciousness, for the birth of the knowing mind, for the simple and yet momentous coming of the sense of self into the world of the mental.
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