The Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, is seen as the beginning of modern depravity.
Umberto EcoRead
Is it worth it to be born if you cannot remember it later? And, technically speaking, had I ever been born? Other people, of course, said that I was. As far as I know, I was born in late April, at sixty years of age, in a hospital room.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote questions the significance of existence without memory and challenges the nature of identity.
Umberto Eco's quote grapples with profound philosophical inquiries surrounding existence, memory, and identity. It suggests that the experience of being born may hold little value if one cannot recall it, prompting a deeper exploration of what it means to be truly alive and whether one's existence can be validated through the accounts of others. The quote highlights the complexities of human consciousness and the essence of being.
Themes
ExistenceMemoryIdentityPhilosophyBirth
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophical discussion about the nature of consciousness.
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All quotes →I think that at a certain age, say fifteen or sixteen, poetry is like masturbation. But later in life good poets burn their early poetry, and bad poets publish it. Thankfully I gave up rather quickly.
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But why do some people support [the heretics]?" "Because it serves their purposes, which concern the faith rarely, and more often the conquest of power." "Is that why the church of Rome accuses all its adversaries of heresy?" "That is why, and that is also why it recognizes as orthodoxy any heresy it can bring back under its own control or must accept because the heresy has become too strong.
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You die, but most of what you have accumulated will not be lost; you are leaving a message in a bottle.
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"Then we are living in a place abandoned by God," I said, disheartened. "Have you found any places where God would have felt at home?" William asked me, looking down from his great height.
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The lunatic is all idée fixe, and whatever he comes across confirms his lunacy. You can tell him by the liberties he takes with common sense, by his flashes of inspiration, and by the fact that sooner or later he brings up the Templars.
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