Mankind today is still making history without having any conscious idea of what it really wants or under what conditions it would stop being unhappy; in fact what it is doing seems to be making itself more unhappy and calling that unhappiness progress.
Interpretation
This quote critiques humanity's pursuit of progress despite increasing unhappiness.
Norman O. Brown reflects on the paradox of human progress, suggesting that despite continuous advancements and historical achievements, individuals and society often lack clarity about their true desires and the conditions necessary for happiness. He posits that this confusion leads to a cycle of unhappiness, where people mistakenly equate their struggles and dissatisfaction with a form of progress, highlighting the need for self-awareness and intentionality in the pursuit of a fulfilling life.
In practice
In a speech about societal progress and its implications on mental health, this quote can highlight the disconnection between achievements and happiness.
I perceive a necessary gap between seeing and being. I would not be able to have said certain things if I had been under the obligation to unify the word and the deed. As it is I can let my words reach out and net impossible things - things that are impossible for me to do. And this is a way to pay the price for saying or seeing things.
Resisting madness is the maddest way of being mad.
The human body is not a thing or substance, given, but a continuous creation. The human body is an energy system which is never a complete structure; never static; is in perpetual inner self-construction and self-destruction; we destroy in order to make it new.
In the United States there is more space where nobody is than where anybody is. This is what makes American what it is.
I am not skilled enough or energetic enough to craft a persona. I just have to be who I am and hope people like it.
I am a Negro: Black as the night is black, Black like the depths of my Africa.
See, if you look at the drug war from a purely economic point of view, the role of the government is to protect the drug cartel. That's literally true.
Laugh as much as you choose, but you will not laugh me out of my opinion.
Persuasion is achieved by the speaker's personal character when the speech is so spoken as to make us think him credible. We believe good men more fully and more readily than others: this is true generally whatever the question is, and absolutely true where exact certainty is impossible and opinions are divided.
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