They don't ask much of you. They only want you to hate the things you love and to love the things you despise.
Boris PasternakRead
It was not until after the coming of Christ that time and humans could breathe freely. It was not until after him that people began to live toward the future. Humans do not die in a ditch like a dog-but at home in history, while the work toward the conquest of death is in full swing; they die sharing in this work.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the transformative impact of Christ on human understanding of time and existence.
Boris Pasternak reflects on the significance of Christ's arrival as a pivotal moment in human history. He suggests that before this event, people lacked a vision for the future and lived in a limited understanding of existence. The quote portrays a more profound perspective on life and death, where mortality is not an end but part of a collective effort toward something greater, symbolizing hope and continuity in the human experience.
Themes
ChristTimeHistoryExistenceHopeFuture
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about personal growth, one might reference this quote to illustrate the importance of living with purpose.
More from Boris Pasternak
All quotes βEven so, one step from my grave, I believe that cruelty, spite, The powers of darkness will in time, Be crushed by the spirit of light.
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He is her glory. Any woman could say it. For every one of them, God is in her child. Mothers of great men must have been familiar with this feeling, but then, all women are mothers of great men -- it isn't their fault if life disappoints them later.
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Our evenings are farewells. Our parties are testaments. So that the secret stream of suffering. May warm the cold of life.
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The most extraordinary discoveries are made when the artist is overwhelmed by what he has to say.
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Oh, how one wishes sometimes to escape from the meaningless dullness of human eloquence, from all those sublime phrases, to take refuge in nature, apparently so inarticulate, or in the wordlessness of long, grinding labor, of sound sleep, of true music, or of a human understanding rendered speechless by emotion!
Boris PasternakRead
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