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Thanks to his complex convictions, made strong with the forces of animus and anima, the alchemist believes he is seizing the soul of the world, participating in the soul of the world. Thus, from the world to the man, alchemy is a problem of souls.
Gaston Bachelard
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote explores the connection between humanity and the world through the metaphor of alchemy and the balance of internal forces.

Gaston Bachelard's quote emphasizes the profound relationship between an individual's inner convictions and the external world. By describing alchemy as a 'problem of souls,' he suggests that the pursuit of knowledge and understanding involves a deep engagement with both one's own essence (animus and anima) and the larger universe, implying that our personal transformations are intertwined with the world's transformation.

Themes

AlchemySoulConvictionsWorldTransformation

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about personal growth, this quote can highlight the importance of inner belief systems.

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In order to dream so far, is it enough to read? Isn't it necessary to write? Write as in our schoolboy past, in those days when, as Bonnoure says, the letters wrote themselves one by one, either in their gibbosity or else in their pretentious elegance? In those days, spelling was a drama, our drama of culture at work in the interior of a word.
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How is it possible not to feel that there is communication between our solitude as a dreamer and the solitudes of childhood? And it is no accident that, in a tranquil reverie, we often follow the slope which returns us to our childhood solitudes.
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