To live fully, outwardly and inwardly, not to ignore the external reality for the sake of the inner life, or the reverse, that's quite a task
Etty HillesumRead
Thinking gets you nowhere. It may be a fine and noble aid in academic studies, but you can't think your way out of emotional difficulties. That takes something altogether different. You have to make yourself passive then, and just listen. Re-establish contact with a slice of eternity.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the limitations of thinking in resolving emotional challenges, suggesting the need for a deeper, more passive engagement with one's feelings.
Etty Hillesum highlights the idea that while thinking can be valuable for intellectual pursuits, it often falls short in addressing emotional hardships. Instead of trying to reason through feelings, one should embrace a state of receptivity and connect with a deeper understanding of existence, which can lead to healing and clarity.
Themes
ThinkingEmotionsPassivityEternityListening
In practice
Example use cases
In a mental health seminar, to illustrate the importance of emotional awareness.
More from Etty Hillesum
All quotes →The more peace there is in us, the more peace there will be in our troubled world.
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We have to fight them daily, lake fleas, those many small worries about the morrow, for they sap our energies.
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Each of us must turn inward and destroy in himself all that he thinks he ought to destroy in others.
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I think what weakens people most is fear of wasting their strength.
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I really see no other solution than to turn inwards and to root out all the rottenness there. I no longer believe that we can change anything in the world until we first change ourselves. And that seems to me the only lesson to be learned.
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