Man adapts himself to everything, to the best and the worst.
Jose Ortega Y GassetRead
Life is a terrible conflict, a grandiose and atrocious confluence. Hunting submerges man deliberately in that formidable mystery and therefore contains something of religious rite and emotion in which homage is paid to what is divine, transcendent, and in the laws of Nature.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Life is a complex struggle that reveals deep mysteries, akin to a sacred ritual.
In this quote, Jose Ortega Y Gasset reflects on the inherent conflicts and challenges of life, suggesting that engaging with these difficulties brings us closer to understanding the profound mysteries of existence. He likens this engagement to a religious rite, emphasizing that through the act of 'hunting' or confronting life's struggles, individuals show reverence for the divine aspects of nature and reality.
Themes
LifeConflictMysteryNatureReligion
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can inspire reflection during a philosophical discussion.
More from Jose Ortega Y Gasset
All quotes →"Natural" man is always there, under the changeable historical man. We call him and he comes-a little sleepy, benumbed, without his lost form of instinctive hunter, but, after all, still alive. Natural man is first prehistoric man-the hunter.
Jose Ortega Y GassetRead
We have not reached ethical perfection in hunting. One never achieves perfection in anything, and perhaps it exists precisely so that one can never achieve it. Its purpose is to orient our conduct and to allow us to measure the progress accomplished. In this sense, the advancement achieved in the ethics of hunting is undeniable.
Jose Ortega Y GassetRead
I am myself and what is around me, and if I do not save it, it shall not save me.
Jose Ortega Y GassetRead
We fall in love when our imagination projects nonexistent perfection upon another person. One day, the fantasy evaporates and with it, love dies.
Jose Ortega Y GassetRead
We do not live to think, but, on the contrary, we think in order that we may succeed in surviving.
Jose Ortega Y GassetRead
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