Do not struggle. Go with the flow of things, and you will find yourself at one with the mysterious unity of the Universe.
ZhuangziRead
In a world of democracies, in a world where the great projects that have set humanity on fire are the projects of the emancipation of individuals from entrenched social division and hierarchy; in such a world individuals must never be puppets or prisoners of the societies or cultures into which they have been born.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of individual freedom and agency in the context of social structures.
Roberto Unger highlights the necessity for individuals to exercise their autonomy and reject becoming mere products of their societal or cultural backgrounds. In a democratic world striving for individual liberation, it is crucial that people resist being controlled by the divisions and hierarchies established by society.
In practice
During a conference on social justice, this quote can be used to inspire discussions about the role of individuals in shaping society.
Do not struggle. Go with the flow of things, and you will find yourself at one with the mysterious unity of the Universe.
We can no more justify using nonhumans as human resources than we can justify human slavery. Animal use and slavery have at least one important point in common: both institutions treat sentient beings exclusively as resources of others. That cannot be justified with respect to humans; it cannot be justified with respect to nonhumans—however “humanely” we treat them.
I shall revenge myself in the cruelest way you can imagine. I shall forget it.
We know that a man can read Goethe or Rilke in the evening, that he can play Bach and Schubert, and go to his day's work at Auschwitz in the morning.
Faith is the choice of the nobler hypothesis.' Not the noblest, one never knows what that is. But the nobler, the best one can see when the choice is made.
There is no true gracefulness which is not epitomized goodness.
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