God, how pointless and empty the world is! Days filled with cheap and tarnished moments succeed each other, restless and haunted nights follow in bitter routine: the sun shines without brightness, and the moon rises without light. My heart has the taste of ashes, and my throat is tight and weary with weeping. What is a lost soul? It is one that has turned from its true path and is groping in the darkness of remembered ways—
Interpretation
This quote reflects a profound sense of despair and disillusionment with life.
Malcolm Lowry expresses a deep existential crisis, portraying the world as a bleak and empty place devoid of joy and meaning. Through evocative imagery, he illustrates the struggle of a lost soul, one that has deviated from its true path, leading to feelings of isolation and despair amidst a dull existence. This emphasizes the importance of finding purpose and clarity in life to escape the haunting feelings of emptiness.
In practice
Sharing this quote during a discussion about existentialism at a philosophy club.
The Consul felt a pang. Ah, to have a horse, and gallop away, singing, to someone you loved perhaps, into the heart of all the simplicity and peace in the world; was that not like the opportunity afforded man by life itself? Of course not. Still, just for a moment, it had seemed that it was.
No, my secrets are of the grave and must be kept. And this is how I sometimes think of myself, as a great explorer who has discovered some extraordinary land from which he can never return to give his knowledge to the world: but the name of this land is hell.
To be perfectly just is an attribute of the divine nature; to be so to the utmost of our abilities, is the glory of man.
God loves the saints as the purchase of his Son's blood. They cost him dear, and that which is so hardly got shall not be easily lost. He that was willing to expend his Son's blood to gain them, will not deny his power to keep them.
Enlightenment means taking full responsibility for your life.
The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.
How necessary it is at all times to watch against the attempted encroachment of power, and to prevent its running to excess.
You can put anything into words, except your own life.
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