My pessimism extends to the point of even suspecting the sincerity of other pessimists.
Interpretation
The quote expresses a deep skepticism about the authenticity of pessimism and the motives behind it.
Jean Rostand's quote reflects on the nature of pessimism, suggesting that not only does he hold a negative view of the world, but he also doubts the genuine concerns of others who share this outlook. This self-reflective skepticism indicates a profound sense of distrust, capturing the paradox of being pessimistic yet questioning the validity of shared pessimism. It reveals a layered understanding of human emotions and attitudes toward life and its challenges.
In practice
Discussing existential philosophy in a university lecture.
If a given scientist had not made a given discovery, someone else would have done so a little later. Johann Mendel dies unknown after having discovered the laws of heredity: thirty-five years later, three men rediscover them. But the book that is not written will never be written. The premature death of a great scientist delays humanity; that of a great writer deprives it.
Certain brief sentences are peerless in their ability to give one the feeling that nothing remains to be said.
We spend our time envying people whom we wouldn't wish to be.
Stupidity, outrage, vanity, cruelty, iniquity, bad faith, falsehood - we fail to see the whole array when it is facing in the same direction as we.
When a scientist is ahead of his times, it is often through misunderstanding of current, rather than intuition of future truth. In science there is never any error so gross that it won't one day, from some perspective, appear prophetic.
A few great minds are enough to endow humanity with monstrous power, but a few great hearts are not enough to make us worthy of using it.
Fear Allah, for that is fortune; indifference to Allah is misfortune.
You dwell in whitened castles with deep and poisoned moats and cannot hear the curses which fill your children's throats.
For they, the philosophers, were considered teachers of right living, which is far more excellent, since to speak well belongs only to a few, but to live well belongs to all.
However great his outward conformity, the immigrant is not Americanized unless his interests and affections have become deeply rooted here. And we properly demand of the immigrant even more than this. He must be brought into complete harmony with our ideals and aspirations and cooperate with us for their attainment.
In vain do we seek tranquility in the desert; temptations are always with us; our passions, represented by the demons, never let us alone: those monsters created by the heart, those illusions produced by the mind, those vain specters that are our errors and our lies always appear before us to seduce us; they attack us even in our fasting or our mortifications, in other words, in our very strength.
The true man wants two things: danger and play. For that reason he wants woman, as the most dangerous plaything.
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