"There's got to be more to life than just living," Foyle said to the robot. "Then find it for yourself, sir. Don't ask the world to stop moving because you have doubts." "Why can't we all move forward together?" "Because you're all different. You're not lemmings. Some must lead, and hope that the rest will follow." "Who leads?" "The men who must... driven men, compelled men." "Freak men." "You're all freaks, sir. But you always have been freaks. Life is a freak. That's its hope and glory."
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of finding personal meaning in life and accepting the individuality in our pursuits.
In this dialogue, the characters explore the notion that life should be about seeking deeper meaning rather than merely existing. The robot's response suggests that individuals have the power to discover their purpose and that life's richness comes from its inherent unpredictability and diversity. The idea that some individuals are destined to lead while others follow reflects the complexities of human nature and how ambition and drive shape our destinies.
In practice
In a motivational speech about personal growth, one could quote this to inspire others to seek deeper meaning in their lives.
This was a Golden Age, a time of high adventure, rich living and hard dying... but nobody thought so. This was a future of fortune and theft, pillage and rapine, culture and vice... but nobody admitted it. This was an age of extremes, a fascinating century of freaks... but nobody loved it.
Don't ask the world to stop moving because you have doubts.
If the spiritual universe and the way to it were shown, No one would remain in this world for a single moment.
The entire universe is God's cosmic motion picture, and that individuals are merely actors in the divine play who change roles through reincarnation; mankind's deep suffering is rooted in identifying too closely with one's current role, rather than with the movie's director, or God.
As beauteous is the world, and many a joy Floats through its wide dominion. But, alas, When we would seize the winged good, it flies.
This revelation of the secrets of nature, long mercifully withheld from man, should arouse the most solemn reflections in the mind and conscience of every human being capable of comprehension. We must indeed pray that these awful agencies will be made to conduce to peace among the nations, and that instead of wreaking measureless havoc upon the entire globe, may become a perennial fountain of world prosperity.
An act cannot be defined by the end sought by the actor, for an identical system of behaviour may be adjustable to too many different ends without altering its nature.
Oh, am I a feminist? I usually say that I was an accidental feminist. Really, I was just being me.
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