Love consists in leaving the loved one space to be themselves while providing the security within which that self may flourish.
Tony JudtRead
I'm not sure I've learned anything new about life; but I've had to think harder about death and what comes after for other people.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the insights gained from contemplating death and its impact on understanding life.
In this quote, Tony Judt expresses a profound realization that while he may not have discovered new facts about life, the experience of contemplating death and its implications for others has deepened his understanding. This reflection prompts a more profound engagement with the themes of existence, mortality, and the value of life itself, suggesting that the awareness of death can lead to a richer appreciation of lifeβs complexities.
In practice
In a discussion about life's challenges, this quote can highlight the importance of reflecting on mortality.
Love consists in leaving the loved one space to be themselves while providing the security within which that self may flourish.
If active or concerned citizens forfeit politics, they thereby abandon their society to its most mediocre and venal public servants
Obviously a primary liberal conviction is that we should be tolerant of other peoples' convictions. But if we believe in something, we had better find ways to say so convincingly.
Social democracy does not represent an ideal future; it does not even represent the ideal past.
What I am against is false optimism: the notion either that things have to go well, or else that they tend to, or else that the default condition of historical trajectories is characteristically beneficial in the long-run.
We are not merely historians but also and always citizens.
What has been cut apart cannot be glued back together. Abandon all hope of totality, future as well as past, you who enter the world of fluid modernity.
Weak character will neutralize all of the other possible good qualities a person might possess.
Power has for so long been a male construct that it distorted the shape of the first women who tried it on, only to find themselves in a sort of straitjacket.
In early Islam, it was an absolute tenet that the prophet was not to be worshipped. The prophet was a messenger. And one of the things that's happened in Islam is this cult of the prophet, which to my view is counter to the original tradition.
Who never doubted, never half believed. Where doubt is, there truth is - it is her shadow.
The whole problem is to establish communication with ones self.
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