All has gone to rest, and I don't know whether I'm alive or will live or whether I'm rushing like this through the world for I'm not longer weeping or laughing
Taras ShevchenkoRead
It’s terrible to lie in chains,_x000D_ To rot in dungeon deep,_x000D_ But it’s still worse, when you are free_x000D_ To sleep, and sleep, and sleep.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the deeper despair of a mind in captivity despite physical freedom.
Taras Shevchenko's quote reflects the profound existential dilemma of being trapped in a state of apathy and stagnation even when one is outwardly free. It suggests that mere physical liberation is not sufficient if one's mind and spirit remain shackled by indifference or inaction, portraying a deeper sense of suffering that transcends mere imprisonment.
Themes
FreedomApathyCaptivityDespairExistentialism
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about mental health and the importance of engagement in life.
More from Taras Shevchenko
All quotes →Similar quotes
The diagnosis that poverty, lack of education, or lack of opportunities have much to do with terrorism requires a fundamentally optimistic view of human nature. This diagnosis leads to the prognosis that all we need to do to solve the terrorism problem is to create societies that are less poor, better educated and have more opportunities.
Peter BergenRead
I read somewhere that 77 per cent of all the mentally ill live in poverty. Actually, I'm more intrigued by the 23 per cent who are apparently doing quite well for themselves.
Jerry GarciaRead
Pride is the utter poverty of soul disguised as riches, imaginary light where in fact there is darkness.
John ClimacusRead
None of us can think we are exempt from concerns for the poor and for social justice.
Pope FrancisRead
Know that this universe is nothing but a dream bluff of nature to test your consciousness of immortality.
Paramahansa YoganandaRead
The whole underside of our society has always been violence and still is. Churches, laws - everybody seems to think that man is a noble savage. But he's only an animal. A meat-eating, talking animal. Recognize it. He also has grace and love and beauty. But don't say to me we're not violent.
Sam PeckinpahRead