Courage is never to let your actions be influenced by your fears.
Arthur KoestlerRead
Nothing is more sad than the death of an illusion.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The loss of false hopes or beliefs can be a deeply sorrowful experience.
Arthur Koestler's quote reflects on the emotional pain that comes with the realization that our beliefs, hopes, or dreams may not be based in reality. The 'death of an illusion' signifies a moment of disillusionment where cherished fantasies or unattainable ideals collapse, leaving individuals to grapple with the sadness of unfulfilled expectations and the harshness of truth.
Themes
IllusionSadnessDisillusionmentTruthHope
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about facing reality, this quote can highlight the importance of grounding one's hopes.
More from Arthur Koestler
All quotes βHistory knows no scruples and no hesitation. Inert and unnering flows towards her goal. History knows herway. She makes no mistakes.
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If one looks with a cold eye at the mess man has made of his history, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that he has been afflicted by some built-in mental disorder which drives him towards self-destruction. Murder within the species on an individual or collective scale is a phenomenon unknown in the whole animal kingdom, except for man, and a few varieties of ants and rats.
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Space-ships and time machines are no escape from the human condition. Let Othello subject Desdemona to a lie-detector test; his jealousy will still blind him to the evidence. Let Oedipus triumph over gravity; he won't triumph over his fate.
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The real achievement in discoveries... is seeing an analogy where no one saw one before... The essence of discovery is that unlikely marriage of cabbages and kings β of previously unrelated frames of reference or universes of discourse β whose union will solve the previously insoluble problem.
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In my youth I regarded the universe as an open book, printed in the language of equations, whereas now it appears to me as a text written in invisible ink, of which in our rare moments of grace we are able to decipher a small segment.
Arthur KoestlerRead
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