The worth of a human being lies in the ability to extend oneself, to go outside oneself, to exist in and for other people.
Interpretation
Human worth is measured by our capacity to connect and care for others.
In this quote, Milan Kundera emphasizes the idea that the true value of a person is not determined by their individual achievements or possessions but rather by their ability to reach out to others, empathize, and make meaningful connections. This selflessness and concern for the well-being of others ultimately define our humanity and enrich our relationships.
In practice
In a speech about community service, one might say, 'As Milan Kundera famously said, the worth of a human being lies in the ability to extend oneself to others.'
Which doesn't mean, of course, that I'd stopped loving her, that I'd forgotten her, or that her image had paled; on the contrary; in the form of a quiet nostalgia she remained constantly within me; I longed for her as one longs for something definitively lost.
Facts mean little compared to attitudes. To contradict rumor or sentiment is as futile as arguing against a believer's faith in the Immaculate Conception. You have simply become a victim of faith, Comrade Assistant.
While people are fairly young and the musical composition of their lives is still in its opening bars, they can go about writing it together and sharing motifs (the way Tomas and Sabina exchanged the motif of the bowler hat), but if they meet when they are older, like Franz and Sabina, their musical compositions are more or less complete, and every motif, every object, every word means something different to each of them.
Mankind's true moral test, its fundamental test (which lies deeply buried from view), consists of its attitude towards those who are at its mercy: animals. And in this respect mankind has suffered a fundamental debacle, a debacle so fundamental that all others stem from it.
To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring - it was peace.
Sensuality is the total mobilization of the senses: an individual observes his partner intently, straining to catch every sound.
I think sometimes what people miss about black people is that we're complicated, that we are indeed messy, that we do our best with what we've been given. We come into the world exactly like you. It's just that there are circumstances in the culture that are dictated and put on our lives that we have to fight against.
You know your problem, Quentin? You keep expecting people not to be themselves.
But why should you be interested in me?" Good question. I canβt explain it myself right this moment. But maybe β just maybe β if we start getting together and talking, after a while something like Francis Laiβs soundtrack music will start playing in the background, and a whole slew of concrete reasons why Iβm interested in you will line up out of nowhere. With luck, it might even snow for us.
She saw herself riding in the passenger seat, Sam behind the wheel. Like two of those little peg people in a toy car. Husband peg, wife peg, side by side. Facing the road and not looking at each other; for why would they need to, really, having gone beyond the visible surface long ago. No hope of admiring gazes anymore, no chance of unremitting adoration. Nothing left to show but their plain, true, homely, interior selves, which were actually much richer anyhow.
Now I'm starting to think he wasn't supposed to be my whole life, he was just this doorway to me.
Ninety-nine percent of the time humans have lived on this planet we've lived in tribes, groups of 12 to 36 people. Only during times of war, or what we have now, which is the psychological equivalent of war, does the nuclear family prevail, because it's the most mobile unit that can ensure the survival of the species. But for the full flowering of the human spirit we need groups, tribes.
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