The whole world might know you and acclaim you, but someone in the past, forever unreachable, forever unknowing, spoils it all.
Interpretation
The acknowledgment and acclaim of the world can feel empty if there is someone from the past whose approval we will never receive.
This quote by Isaac Asimov reflects on the human longing for connection and approval, illustrating that fame and recognition can feel hollow when overshadowed by the desire for validation from those we can no longer reach. It emphasizes the poignant reality that our past relationships, whether positive or negative, shape our present self-image and emotional fulfillment, reminding us that some relationships can leave a lasting impact regardless of time or distance.
In practice
During a motivational speech about the importance of being true to oneself despite fame.
Democracy cannot survive overpopulation. Human dignity cannot survive it. Convenience and decency cannot survive it. As you put more and more people into the world, the value of life not only declines, but it disappears. It doesn't matter if someone dies.
Science does not promise absolute truth, nor does it consider that such a thing necessarily exists. Science does not even promise that everything in the Universe is amenable to the scientific process.
Democracy cannot survive overpopulation.
Although the time of death is approaching me, I am not afraid of dying and going to Hell or (what would be considerably worse) going to the popularized version of Heaven. I expect death to be nothingness and, for removing me from all possible fears of death, I am thankful to atheism.
A subtle thought that is in error may yet give rise to fruitful inquiry that can establish truths of great value.
During the century after Newton, it was still possible for a man of unusual attainments to master all fields of scientific knowledge. But by 1800, this had become entirely impracticable.
Realise this: one day your soul_x000D_ will depart from your body and you will_x000D_ be drawn behind the curtain that floats between us_x000D_ and the unknown. While you wait for that moment, be happy,_x000D_ because you don't know where you came from and_x000D_ you don't know where you will be going.
The sense of being a separate, egoic self begins with the astral, not with the physical, body. The soul is individualized spirit.
As long as you find something beautiful, good, and true to believe in and abide by, you have the equivalent of God in your life.
Don't you know that a midnight hour comes when everyone has to take off his mask? Do you think life always lets itself be trifled with? Do you think you can sneak off a little before midnight to escape this?
Memory weaves and traps us at the same time according to a scheme in which we do not participate: we should never speak of our memory, for it is anything but ours; it works on its own terms, it assists us while deceiving us or perhaps deceives up to assist us.
...the moment of passage from disturbance into harmony is that of intensest life.
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