If the awareness of our limitations begins to limit or to dim our value consciousness as well—as happens, for instance, in old age with regard to the values of youth—then we have already started the movement of devaluation which will end with the defamation of the world and all its values. Only a timely act of resignation can deliver us from this tendency toward self-delusion.
Interpretation
Awareness of our limitations can lead to a diminished sense of self-worth and the values we attribute to life, particularly as we age.
Max Scheler suggests that recognizing our limitations can sometimes result in a decline in our value consciousness, particularly when it comes to the vibrancy and worth associated with youth. This experience of devaluation can spiral into a broader condemnation of the values of the world. To counteract this negative trend, he emphasizes the importance of a timely act of resignation, a conscious decision to accept our circumstances without falling into the traps of self-deception.
In practice
In a motivational speech about embracing change as we age.
Since science's competence extends to observable and measurable phenomena, not to the inner being of things, and to the means, not to the ends of human life, it would be nonsense to expect that the progress of science will provide men with a new type of metaphysics, ethics, or religion.
I have made a ceaseless effort not to ridicule, not to bewail, not to scorn human actions, but to understand them.
The night is darkening round me, _x000D_ The wild winds coldly blow; _x000D_ But a tyrant spell has bound me _x000D_ And I cannot, cannot go. _x000D_ The giant trees are bending _x000D_ Their bare boughs weighed with snow; _x000D_ The storm is fast descending, _x000D_ And yet I cannot go. _x000D_ Clouds beyond clouds above me, _x000D_ Wastes beyond wastes below; _x000D_ But nothing drear can move me; _x000D_ I will not, cannot go.
The most important relationship we can all have is the one you have with yourself, the most important journey you can take is one of self-discovery. To know yourself, you must spend time with yourself, you must not be afraid to be alone. Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.
What if when they called a war, no one went?
A beautiful vacuum filled with wealthy monogamists, all powerful and members of the best families all drinking themselves to death.
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