For what's the use of talking with a man who has a disease and thinks about the stars?
Interpretation
The quote highlights the futility of discussing lofty ideas with someone preoccupied by pressing personal issues.
Bertolt Brecht's quote reflects the stark contrast between the grand aspirations of human thought, symbolized by 'the stars', and the harsh realities of life, represented by a 'man who has a disease'. It suggests that meaningful communication requires a sense of shared context and understanding, emphasizing that one must first contend with their immediate struggles before engaging in abstract discussions. This can speak to the importance of addressing personal challenges before seeking higher knowledge or enlightenment.
In practice
During a discussion about societal issues, one might cite this quote to emphasize the need to first tackle individual struggles.
The shrill voices of those who give orders Are full of fear like the squeakings of Piglets awaiting the butcher's knife, as their fat arses Sweat with anxiety in their office chairs.... Fear rules not only those who are ruled, but The rulers too.
We need a type of theatre which not only releases the feelings, insights and impulses possible within the particular historical field of human relations in which the action takes place, but employs and encourages those thoughts and feelings which help transform the field itself.
We attacked a foreign people and treated them like rebels. As you know, it's all right to treat barbarians barbarically. It's the desire to be barbaric that makes governments call their enemies barbarians.
War is like love, it always finds a way.
Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer with which to shape it.
Recently my fingers have developed a prejudice against comparatives. They all follow this pattern: a squirrel is smaller than a tree; a bird is more musical than a tree. Each of us is the strongest one in his or her own skin. Characteristics should take off their hats to one another, instead of spitting in each other's faces.
Your name or your body, what is dearer? Your body or your wealth, what is worthier?
We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.
At bottom, I mean profoundly at bottom, the FBI has nothing to do with Communism, it has nothing to do with catching criminals, it has nothing to do with the Mafia, the syndicate, it has nothing to do with trust-busting, it has nothing to do with interstate commerce, it has nothing to do with anything but serving as a church for the mediocre. A high church for the true mediocre.
We have believed - and we do believe now - that freedom is indivisible, that peace is indivisible, that economic prosperity is indivisible
He learned that when people are very poor they still have something to give and the impulse to give it.
Your ego may be just a soap bubble. Maybe for a few seconds it will remain, rising higher in the air. Perhaps for a few seconds it may have a rainbow, but it is only for a few seconds. In this infinite and eternal existence your egos go on bursting every moment. It is better not to have any attachment with soap bubbles.
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