It is still not enough for language to have clarity and content... it must also have a goal and an imperative. Otherwise from language we descend to chatter, from chatter to babble and from babble to confusion.
Rene DaumalRead
Truth is one, but error proliferates. Man tracks it down and cuts it up into little pieces hoping to turn it into grains of truth. But the ultimate atom will always essentially be an error, a miscalculation.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Truth is singular, while errors are many. Humanity struggles to dissect errors in pursuit of understanding the ultimate truth.
This quote by Rene Daumal reflects on the nature of truth and error, suggesting that while there is a singular concept of truth, errors are abundant and can be confusing. Humans attempt to analyze and break down these errors to find some semblance of truth, but it implies that even our best efforts can lead us astray, as the fundamental source of error may never be fully rectified or understood, highlighting the complexity of truth-seeking.
Themes
TruthErrorUnderstandingPhilosophyMiscalculation
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared during a philosophy discussion about the nature of truth and knowledge.
More from Rene Daumal
All quotes →In the mythic tradition, the Mountain is the bond between Earth and Sky. Its solitary summit reaches the sphere of eternity, and its base spreads out in manifold foothills into the world of mortals. It is the way by which man can raise himself to the divine and by which the divine can reveal itself to man.
Rene DaumalRead
The door to the invisible must be visible.
Rene DaumalRead
I am dead because I have no desire,_x000D_ I have no desire because I think I possess,_x000D_ I think I possess because I do not try to give;_x000D_ Trying to give, we see that we have nothing;_x000D_ Seeing that we have nothing, we try to give ourselves,_x000D_ Trying to give ourselves, we see that we are nothing,_x000D_ Seeing that we are nothing, we desire to become,_x000D_ Desiring to become, we live.
Rene DaumalRead
Art has a double face, of expression and illusion, just like science has a double face: the reality of error and the phantom of truth.
Rene DaumalRead
Common experience is the gold reserve which confers an exchange value on the currency which words are; without this reserve of shared experiences, all our pronouncements are checks drawn on insufficient funds.
Rene DaumalRead
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