Nothing human is finally calculable; even to ourselves we are strange.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that human nature is complex and unpredictable, even to ourselves.
Gore Vidal's quote highlights the inherent unpredictability of human behavior and the complexities of self-knowledge. It implies that despite our attempts to understand and quantify human actions and motivations, there remains an element of strangeness that defies calculation, underscoring the intricacies of individuality and the mysterious aspects of our own identities that we may never fully comprehend.
In practice
In a philosophy class discussing the nature of humanity, this quote can be used to illustrate the complexities of self-perception.
We must declare ourselves, become known; allow the world to discover this subterranean life of ours which connects kings and farm boys, artists and clerks. Let them see that the important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
American writers want to be not good but great; and so are neither.
Writing fiction has become a priestly business in countries that have lost their faith.
The important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
For the average American, freedom of speech is simply the freedom to repeat what everyone else is saying and no more.
Ayn Rand's 'philosophy' is nearly perfect in its immorality, which makes the size of her audience all the more ominous and symptomatic as we enter a curious new phase in our society.... To justify and extol human greed and egotism is to my mind not only immoral, but evil.
War is the continuation of politics by other means.
One believes others will do what he will do to himself.
But I own that I cannot see as plainly as others do, and I should wish to do, evidence of design and beneficence on all sides of us. There seems to me too much misery in the world. I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent and omnipotent God would have designedly created that a cat should play with mice.
It is as natural to die as to be born; and to a little infant, perhaps, the one is as painful as the other.
One tended to lose oneβs bearings in the presence of willful and persistent acts of craziness, and the more gentle the act, the crazier it seemed, as if rage and violence, being closer to the norm, were easier to accommodate.
While people are often content to criticize and blame others for what goes wrong, surely we should at least attempt to put forward constructive ideas. One thing is for certain: given human beings' love of truth, justice, peace, and freedom, creating a better, more compassionate world is a genuine possibility. The potential is there.
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