To learn a new language is, therefore, always a sort of spiritual adventure; it is like a journey of discovery in which we find a new world.
Ernst CassirerRead
Man is always inclined to regard the small circle in which he lives as the center of the world and to make his particular, private life the standard of the universe and to make his particular, private life the standard of the universe. But he must give up this vain pretense, this petty provincial way of thinking and judging.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Humans often see their personal experiences as the most significant, but should strive for a broader perspective.
This quote by Ernst Cassirer highlights the tendency of individuals to view their immediate surroundings and personal lives as the most important aspects of existence. It warns against the narrow-mindedness of equating one's limited experiences to universal truths, encouraging a more expansive viewpoint that acknowledges the richness and diversity of human experience beyond one's own life.
Themes
PerspectiveUnderstandingLifeExperienceUniverse
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about empathy, one might quote this to illustrate the importance of understanding different life experiences.
More from Ernst Cassirer
All quotes →Knowledge of the name gives him who knows it mastery even over the being and will of the god.
Ernst CassirerRead
Similar quotes
The world is filled with people who are no longer needed -- and who try to make slaves of all of us -- and they have their music and we have ours.
Woody GuthrieRead
Not that that mystical stuff's necessarily true: The only thing that's capital-T true is that you get to decide how you're going to try to see it.
David Foster WallaceRead
Man is a microcosm, or a little world, because he is an extract from all the stars and planets of the whole firmament, from the earth and the elements; and so he is their quintessence.
ParacelsusRead
To be commanded to love God at all, let alone in the wilderness, is like being commanded to be well when we are sick, to sing for joy when we are dying of thirst, to run when our legs are broken. But this is the first and great commandment nonetheless. Even in the wilderness - especially in the wilderness - you shall love him.
Frederick BuechnerRead
Under the continual contact with the pebbles my feet have become hardened and used to the ground. My body, almost constantly nude, no longer suffers from the sun. Civilization is falling from me little by little. I am beginning to think simply, to feel only very little hatred for my neighbor - rather, to love him.
Paul GauguinRead
Perhaps our greatest distinction as a species is our capacity, unique among animals, to make counter-evolutionary choices.
Jared DiamondRead