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
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True change in the world begins with self-reflection and personal growth.
Etty Hillesum emphasizes the importance of introspection and self-improvement as a prerequisite for broader societal change. She argues that before attempting to alter the external conditions of the world, individuals must confront and address their own internal flaws and moral dilemmas. This notion reflects a deeper understanding of personal responsibility and the power of individual transformation as a catalyst for global progress.
Themes
ChangeSelf-ReflectionPersonal GrowthIntrospectionSocial Change
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a motivational speech to encourage personal development among young leaders.
More from Etty Hillesum
All quotes →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.
Etty HillesumRead
The more peace there is in us, the more peace there will be in our troubled world.
Etty HillesumRead
We have to fight them daily, lake fleas, those many small worries about the morrow, for they sap our energies.
Etty HillesumRead
Each of us must turn inward and destroy in himself all that he thinks he ought to destroy in others.
Etty HillesumRead
I think what weakens people most is fear of wasting their strength.
Etty HillesumRead
Similar quotes
No one makes a revolution by himself; and there are some revolutions which humanity accomplishes without quite knowing how, because it is everybody who takes them in hand.
George SandRead
Only some radical change can divert the downward course of my spirit, some startling new place or people to arrest the drift, the drag.
Tennessee WilliamsRead
One always has to know when a stage comes to an end. If we insist on staying longer than the necessary time, we lose the happiness and the meaning of the other stages we have to go through. Closing cycles, shutting doors, ending chapters – whatever name we give it, what matters is to leave in the past the moments of life that have finished.
Paulo CoelhoRead
Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total; of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.
Robert KennedyRead
I care very much about women and their progress. I didn’t go march in the streets, but when I was in the Arizona Legislature, one of the things that I did was to examine every single statute in the state of Arizona to pick out the ones that discriminated against women and get them changed.
Sandra Day O'ConnorRead
I think that more diversity is a good thing, and fresh points of view articulated by people who are committed to excellence in journalism is a beneficial change in the American media landscape.
Al GoreRead