I don't divide the world into the weak and the strong, or the successes and failures...I divide the world into the learners and non-learners.
Benjamin BarberRead
Where once the student was taught that the unexamined life was not worth living, he is now taught that the profitably lived life is not worth examining.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques the modern emphasis on productivity over self-reflection.
Benjamin Barber's quote suggests a shift in values from the importance of examining one's life to a focus on productivity. It highlights a cultural trend where individuals are encouraged to live in a manner that prioritizes profit and efficiency rather than critical thought and self-examination, implying that true fulfillment comes from understanding oneself rather than merely achieving success or wealth.
Themes
Self-ExaminationPhilosophyProductivityLifeReflection
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about personal growth, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of self-reflection.
More from Benjamin Barber
All quotes βSimilar quotes
Eating, drinking, dying - three primary manifestations of the universal and impersonal life. Animals live that impersonal and universal life without knowing its nature. Ordinary people know its nature but don't live it and, if they think seriously about it, refuse to accept it. An enlightened person knows it, lives it, and accepts it completely. He eats, he drinks, and in due course he dies - but he eats with a difference, drinks with a difference, dies with a difference.
Aldous HuxleyRead
There is no kind of framework within which we can find consciousness in the plural; this is simply something we construct because of the temporal plurality of individuals, but it is a false construction... The only solution to this conflict insofar as any is available to us at all lies in the ancient wisdom of the Upanishad.
Erwin SchrodingerRead
Though builders may build, in the main they follow the plans of architects. Teachers teach, but they must have a text. Politicians govern, but only upon the flow of commentary that raises them up or casts them down.
Mark HelprinRead
Beyond ideas, there's a field. Will you meet me there?
RumiRead
Neither seek nor avoid, take what comes.
Swami VivekanandaRead
There is nothing in the dark that isn't there when the lights are on.
Rod SerlingRead