Truth is the greatest of all national possessions. A state, a people, a system which suppresses the truth or fears to publish it, deserves to collapse.
Interpretation
Truth is essential for a society's integrity and survival. A nation that hides or fears the truth is doomed to fail.
Kurt Eisner's quote emphasizes the critical role that truth plays in the fabric of a society. He argues that when a government or community suppresses or avoids confronting the truth, it undermines its own stability and moral foundation. In essence, a lack of openness and transparency is indicative of deeper issues that, if left unaddressed, will lead to the downfall of that society. Truth is not only a virtue but a fundamental requirement for a healthy political and social landscape.
In practice
This quote could be used in a speech about the importance of freedom of the press.
A child born today will grow up with no conception of privacy at all. They'll never know what it means to have a private moment to themselves an unrecorded, unanalysed thought. And that's a problem because privacy matters, privacy is what allows us to determine who we are and who we want to be.
Why is erasing desire seen as so important? If the subjugation of the self is the point of the self what's the point in having a self? It's like someone handing you a leaflet which says throw this leaflet away.
It is rational to believe, as it is our very existence that is at stake.
Philosophic meditation is an accomplishment by which I attain Being and my own self, not impartial thinking which studies a subject with indifference.
Unhappiness. There are all kinds of unhappy people in the world. I suppose it would be no exaggeration to say that the world is composed entirely of unhappy people. But those people can fight their unhappiness with society fairly and squarly, and society for its part easily understands and sympathizes with such struggles. My unhappiness stemmed entirely from my own vices, and I had no way of fighting anybody.
Death is but a passage. It is not a house, it is only a vestibule. The grave has a door on its inner side.
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