My turn shall also come: I sense the spreading of a wing.
Osip MandelstamRead
And I walk out of space Into an overgrown garden of values, And tear up seeming stability And self-comprehension of causes. And your, infinity, textbook I read by myself, without people - Leafless, savage medical book, A problem book of gigantic radicals.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects on the complexity of understanding values and knowledge in an ever-changing world.
Osip Mandelstam's quote conveys a deep exploration of the nature of knowledge and personal experience. The imagery of walking into an 'overgrown garden of values' suggests a chaotic but rich landscape of beliefs and morals, while tearing up 'seeming stability' highlights the constant reassessment of what we think we know and understand. Additionally, the references to reading a 'textbook' alone symbolize the solitary journey of grappling with challenging ideas that may not have clear answers, emphasizing the struggle and complexity of intellectual growth and self-discovery in the face of vast, often overwhelming, concepts.
Themes
KnowledgeValuesPhilosophyUnderstandingSelf-Discovery
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a philosophy class to spark discussions about the nature of knowledge.
More from Osip Mandelstam
All quotes →The people need poetry that will be their own secret_x000D_ To keep them awake forever,_x000D_ And bathe them in the bright-haired wave of its breathing.
Osip MandelstamRead
Perhaps my whisper was already born before my lips.
Osip MandelstamRead
Perhaps the whisper was born before lips, And the leaves in treelessness circled and flew, And those, to whom we impart our experience as bliss, Acquire their forms before we do
Osip MandelstamRead
Similar quotes
To the free man, the country is the collection of individuals who compose it, not something over and above them... He recognizes no national goal except as it is the consensus of the goals that the citizens severally serve. He recognizes no national purpose except as it is the consensus of the purposes for which the citizens severally strive.
Milton FriedmanRead
There is no more fundamental axiom of American freedom than the familiar statement: In a free country we punish men for the crimes they commit but never for the opinions they have.
Harry S. TrumanRead
All white people in the United States have benefited from a white supremacy. But does that mean that a white person should be viewed badly because they turn against a white supremacist policy? Just because you've benefited from something shouldn't disable you from repudiating it.
Randall KennedyRead
If thinking is your fate, revere this fate with divine honour and sacrifice to it the best, the most beloved
Friedrich NietzscheRead
It seems to me that I have always existed and that I possess memories that date back to the Pharaohs.
Gustave FlaubertRead
When we understand that man is the only animal who must create meaning, who must open a wedge into neutral nature, we already understand the essence of love. Love is the problem of an animal who must find life, create a dialogue with nature in order to experience his own being.
Ernest BeckerRead