It was better, he thought, to fail in attempting exquisite things than to succeed in the department of the utterly contemptible.
Arthur MachenRead
We lead two lives, and the half of our soul is madness, and half heaven is lit by a black sun. I say I am a man, is the other that hides in me?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the duality of human nature, balancing between madness and enlightenment.
Arthur Machen's quote explores the complexity of human existence, suggesting that every individual embodies two contrasting aspects: one that is chaotic or 'mad' and another that is illuminated or 'heavenly'. It prompts reflection on the inner struggles and dichotomous nature of humanity, where individuals may grapple with their darker impulses while also aspiring to higher ideals.
Themes
DualityMadnessHeavenSoulHuman Nature
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about mental health or existentialism, this quote could illustrate the struggle between sanity and madness.
More from Arthur Machen
All quotes →Every branch of human knowledge, if traced up to its source and final principles, vanishes into mystery.
Arthur MachenRead
There are sacraments of evil as well as of good about us, and we live and move to my belief in an unknown world, a place where there are caves and shadows and dwellers in twilight. It is possible that man may sometimes return on the track of evolution, and it is my belief that an awful lore is not yet dead.
Arthur MachenRead
And there were other rocks that were like animals, creeping, horrible animals, putting out their tongues, and others were like words I could not say, and others like dead people lying on the grass. I went on among them, though they frightened me, and my heart was full of wicked song they put into it; and I wanted to make faces and twist myself about the way they did, and I went on and on a long way till at last I liked the rocks and they didn’t frighten me any more
Arthur MachenRead
Similar quotes
How many condemnations I have witnessed more criminal than the crime!
Michel De MontaigneRead
The greatest obstacle in the apostolate of the Church is the timidity or rather the cowardice of the faithful.
Pope Pius XRead
Pride and curiosity are the two scourges of our souls. The latter prompts us to poke our noses into everything, and the former forbids us to leave anything unresolved and undecided.
Michel De MontaigneRead
The real problem, both in discussions of mass shootings and in discussions of gun control, is that too many people are too committed to a vision to allow mere facts to interfere with their beliefs, and the sense of superiority that those beliefs give them.
Thomas SowellRead
As we have sought through the centuries to define ourselves as human beings and as nations through the prisms of history and literature, no small part of that effort has drawn us to the subject of war. We might even say that the humanities began with war and from war, and have remained entwined with it ever since.
Drew Gilpin FaustRead
We who follow the Honorable Elijah Muhammad feel that when you try and pass integration laws here in America, forcing white people to pretend that they are accepting black people, what you are doing is making white people act in a hypocritical way.
Malcolm XRead