I asked her to look at me and after a few moments - (pause) - after a few moments she did, but the eyes just slits, because of the glare I bent over her to get them in the shadow and they opened. (Pause. Low) Let me in.
Samuel BeckettRead
What do I know of man's destiny? I could tell you more about radishes.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the uncertainty of human fate compared to the simplicity of understanding nature.
Samuel Beckett's quote highlights the complexity and unpredictability of human existence, suggesting that while we may be curious about our destinies, we often comprehend more tangible and simple concepts, like a radish. This comparison emphasizes the limitations of human knowledge and the challenges of grappling with profound questions about life and destiny.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about the unpredictability of life at a philosophy seminar.
I asked her to look at me and after a few moments - (pause) - after a few moments she did, but the eyes just slits, because of the glare I bent over her to get them in the shadow and they opened. (Pause. Low) Let me in.
Nothing happens. Nobody comes, nobody goes. It's awful.
I shall state silences more competently than ever a better man spangled the butterflies of vertigo.
And what I have, what I am, is enough, was always enough for me, and as far as my dear little sweet little future is concerned I have no qualms, I have a good time coming.
I love order. It's my dream. A world where all would be silent and still, and each thing in its last place, under the last dust.
We lose our hair, our teeth! Our bloom, our ideals.
The theatre is certainly a place for learning about the brevity of human glory: oh all those wonderful glittering absolutely vanished pantomime! Now I shall abjure magic and become a hermit : put myself in a situation where I can honestly say that I have nothing else to do but to learn to be good.
There are only two means by which men can deal with one another: guns or logic. Force or persuasion. Those who know that they cannot win by means of logic, have always resorted to guns.
When all is said and done, and statesmen discuss the future of the world, the fact remains that people fight these wars.
I realized that conventional views of Christian faith that I'd heard when I was growing up were simply made up - and I realized that many parts of the story of the early Christian movement had been left out.
I experienced an ecstasy of unity. I not only saw the connectedness, I felt it and experienced it sentiently. The restraints and boundaries of flesh and bone fell away.
As I know more of mankind I expect less of them, and am ready now to call a man a good man upon easier terms than I was formerly.
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