And enough for me that when my hand touched your shoulder, you leaned on me; and when you felt me slip away, you called my name.
Orson Scott CardRead
Surely you're not saying that God had to choose between long life and intelligence for human beings! It's there in your own Bible, Carlotta. Two trees - knowledge and life. You eat of the tree of knowledge and you will surely die. You eat of the tree of life and you remain a child in the garden forever, undying.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote contrasts the pursuit of knowledge with the desire for eternal life, suggesting a choice between intellectual understanding and a simple, eternal existence.
In this quote, Orson Scott Card presents a philosophical dilemma rooted in biblical imagery. The 'tree of knowledge' symbolizes the pursuit of wisdom and understanding, which often leads to the complexities and challenges of life. Conversely, the 'tree of life' represents a state of innocence and eternal existence without the burdens of knowledge. This dichotomy invites reflection on the values we hold regarding intelligence and immortality, and whether one can truly exist without the other.
Themes
KnowledgeLifeChoiceWisdomEternity
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophy class discussing the implications of knowledge on human existence.
More from Orson Scott Card
All quotes →The world is always a democracy in times of flux, and the man with the best voice will win.
Orson Scott CardRead
Never mind that the story had turned out to be lies and foolishness—there was always folks stupid enough to say, Where there's smoke there's fire, when the saying should have been, Where there's scandalous lies there's always malicious believers and spreaders-around, regardless of evidence.
Orson Scott CardRead
The lives of all people flow through time, and, regardless of how brutal one moment may be, how filled with grief or pain or fear, time flows through all lives equally.
Orson Scott CardRead
You take a step, then another. That's the journey. But to take a step with your eyes open is not a journey at all, it's a remaking of your own mind.
Orson Scott CardRead
I've had your tears with mine, and you've had mine with yours. I think that's more intimate even than a kiss.
Orson Scott CardRead
Similar quotes
We have approximately 60,000 thoughts in a day. Unfortunately, 95% of them are thoughts we had the day before.
Deepak ChopraRead
The universe begins to look more like a great thought than a great machine.
James JeansRead
I observe the physician with the same diligence as the disease.
John DonneRead
I have heard it said that as we keep our birthdays when we are alive, so the ghosts of dead people, who are not easy in their graves, keep the day they died upon.
Charles DickensRead
Philosophy is altogether less pure now. It's been impurified by science and social science and history.
Bernard WilliamsRead
We are the children of our landscape; it dictates behavior and even thought in the measure to which we are responsive to it.
Lawrence DurrellRead