Associate with the noblest people you can find; read the best books; live with the mighty; but learn to be happy alone.
Saul BellowRead
A human soul devoid of longing was a soul deformed, deprived of its highest good, sick unto death.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that longing is an essential part of the human experience and without it, life loses its meaning.
Saul Bellow's quote emphasizes the importance of longing as a vital aspect of the human soul. It suggests that desires and aspirations are what give life richness and purpose; without them, a person's spirit becomes stunted and unfulfilled, leading to a metaphorical death of the self. Longing drives individuals to seek their highest good, and a soul that lacks this passionate pursuit is fundamentally flawed and unhealthy.
Themes
LongingSoulMeaningAspirationLife
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a philosophical discussion about the nature of human desires.
More from Saul Bellow
All quotes βWhen we ask for advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice.
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In here, the human bosom -- mine, yours, everybody's -- there isn't just one soul. There's a lot of souls. But there are two main ones, the real soul and a pretender soul. Now! Every man realizes that he has to love something or somebody. He feels that he must go outward. 'If thou canst not love, what art thou?' Are you with me?
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I've discovered that rejections are not altogether a bad thing. They teach a writer to rely on his own judgment and to say in his heart of hearts, 'To hell with you.'
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I see that I've become a really bad correspondent. It's not that I don't think of you. You come into my thoughts often. But when you do it appears to me that I owe you a particularly grand letter. And so you end in the "warehouse of good intentions": "Can't do it now." "Then put it on hold." This is one's strategy for coping with old age, and with death--because one can't die with so many obligations in storage. Our clever species, so fertile and resourceful in denying its weaknesses.
Saul BellowRead
A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.
Saul BellowRead
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