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
I don't like purely philosophical works. I think a little philosophy should be added to life and art by way of seasoning, but to make it one's specialty seems to me as strange as eating nothing but horseradish." - Lara, from Doctor Zhivago
Interpretation
Philosophy should enhance life and art, not dominate them.
In this quote, Lara expresses the belief that while philosophy has its place in enriching our understanding of life and art, it should not be the sole focus of our existence. Just as seasoning enhances food, philosophy should add depth and flavor to our experiences rather than overshadow them entirely, as an exclusive diet of horseradish would be unpleasant.
In practice
During a lecture on life and art, this quote could illustrate how to balance ideas.
They don't ask much of you. They only want you to hate the things you love and to love the things you despise.
Even 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.
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.
Our evenings are farewells. Our parties are testaments. So that the secret stream of suffering. May warm the cold of life.
The most extraordinary discoveries are made when the artist is overwhelmed by what he has to say.
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!
Most persons are so absorbed in the contemplation of the outside world that they are wholly oblivious to what is passing on within themselves. The premature death of millions is primarily traceable to this cause. Even among those who exercise care, it is a common mistake to avoid imaginary, and ignore the real dangers. And what is true of an individual also applies, more or less, to a people as a whole.
You will never be able to experience everything. So, please, do poetical justice to your soul and simply experience yourself.
To the soul that knows its own divinity, all else must gravitate
As long as men are free to ask what they must, free to say what they think, free to think what they will, freedom can never be lost and science can never regress.
I like to speak on matters which matter to human beings, and almost everything matters to human beings.
Islam is a vibrant faith. Millions of our fellow citizens are Muslim. We respect the faith. We honor its traditions. Our enemy does not. Our enemy doesn't follow the great traditions of Islam. They've hijacked a great religion.
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