We are biological creatures. We are born, we live, we die. There is no transcendent purpose to existence. At best we are creatures of reason, and by using reason we can cure ourselves of emotional excess. Purged of both hope and fear, we find courage in the face of helplessness, insignificance and uncertainty.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the nature of human existence and emphasizes the importance of reason over emotional turmoil.
In this quote, Jonathan Sacks explores the essence of being human as biological beings bound by the cycles of life and death. He argues that existence lacks a transcendent purpose, suggesting that rather than being guided by emotional extremes such as hope and fear, individuals should use reason to navigate life's challenges. By doing so, one can confront the inherent helplessness and uncertainty of existence with courage, ultimately finding strength in acceptance of our insignificance.
In practice
In a speech on resilience during tough times.
Stabilizing the euro is one thing, healing the culture that surrounds it is another. A world in which material values are everything and spiritual values nothing is neither a stable state nor a good society. The time has come for us to recover the Judeo-Christian ethic of human dignity in the image of God.
Governments cannot make marriages or turn feckless individuals into responsible citizens. That needs another kind of change agent.
Jews read the books of Moses not just as history but as divine command. The question to which they are an answer is not, 'What happened?' but rather, 'How then shall I live?' And it's only with the exodus that the life of the commands really begins.
Why did God create mankind? Because God likes stories.
Find people not to envy but to admire. Do not the profitable but the admirable deed. Live by ideals.
Some years ago there was a study to discover the most stressful occupation. It turned out not to be the head of a large business, football manager or prime minister, but rather: bus driver.
O sun, to tell thee how I hate thy beams That bring to my remembrance from what state I fell, how glorious once above thy sphere.
There is superficial conflict but deep concord between science and theistic religion, but superficial concord and deep conflict between science and naturalism
The aim of life is to be fully born, though its tragedy is that most of us die before we are thus born.
The future is always present, as a promise, a lure and a temptation.
The letter kills the spirit. The written text is mute in the face of responding challenge. It does not admit of inward growth and correction. Text subverts the absolutely vital role of memory.
We are a society that has been structured from top to bottom by race. You don't get beyond that by deciding not to talk about it anymore. It will always come back; it will always reassert itself over and over again.
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