All historical writing, even the most honest, is unconsciously subjective, since every age is bound, in spite of itself, to make the dead perform whatever tricks it finds necessary for its own peace of mind.
Carl L. BeckerRead
The significance of man is that he is insignificant and is aware of it.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that human awareness of our own insignificance is what gives us meaning.
Carl L. Becker's quote conveys the idea that while humans may be insignificant in the grand scheme of the universe, it is our consciousness and awareness of this fact that adds significance to our existence. This awareness allows us to contemplate our place in the world, leading to deeper understanding and reflection about life and our roles within it.
Themes
InsignificanceAwarenessExistenceMeaningPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the nature of existence, one might quote this to highlight the paradox of human self-awareness.
More from Carl L. Becker
All quotes βThe value of history is, indeed, not scientific but moral: by liberalizing the mind, by deepening the sympathies, by fortifying the will, it enables us to control, not society, but ourselves - a much more important thing; it prepares us to live more humanely in the present and to meet rather than to foretell the future.
Carl L. BeckerRead
Similar quotes
Religions are like fireflies. They require darkness in order to shine.
Arthur SchopenhauerRead
It must be so,-Plato, thou reasonest well! Else whence this pleasing hope, this fond desire, This longing after immortality? Or whence this secret dread and inward horror Of falling into naught? Why shrinks the soul Back on herself, and startles at destruction? 'T is the divinity that stirs within us; 'T is Heaven itself that points out an hereafter, And intimates eternity to man. Eternity! thou pleasing, dreadful thought!
Joseph AddisonRead
A man who could not see the end of his"provisional existence" was not able to aim at an ultimate goal in life.
Viktor E. FranklRead
A child born today will grow up with no conception of privacy at all. They'll never know what it means to have a private moment to themselves an unrecorded, unanalysed thought. And that's a problem because privacy matters, privacy is what allows us to determine who we are and who we want to be.
Edward SnowdenRead
Only in Jesus Christ do we see how the untamable, infinite God can become a baby and a loving Savior. On the cross we see how both the love and the holiness of God can be fulfilled at once.
Timothy KellerRead
And when there are enough outsiders together in one place, a mystic osmosis takes place and you're inside.
Stephen KingRead