Like the collector, the photographer is animated by a passion that, even when it appears to be for the present, is linked to a sense of the past.
Susan SontagRead
The becoming of man is the history of the exhaustion of his possibilities.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that as humans grow and evolve, they deplete their potential and options over time.
Susan Sontag's quote reflects on the trajectory of human existence, positing that the journey of becoming a fully realized person is intertwined with the gradual exhaustivity of our choices and possibilities. It suggests that with each decision we make or each path we take, we are limiting ourselves to certain outcomes while simultaneously exploring and realizing our true potential. The history of a person's life, then, is not just a chronicle of achievements but also a reflection on the paths not taken and the potential that fades as we age and grow.
Themes
PossibilitiesHistoryManExhaustionPotential
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about personal growth and choices.
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Volume depends precisely on the writer's having been able to sit in a room every day, year after year, alone.
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It hurts to love. It's like giving yourself to be flayed and knowing that at any moment the other person may just walk off with your skin.
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The recovery of spiritual sight and the healing of physical blindness have much in common. Some of those whose bodily eyes were blind received their sight at once, like the man who heard and immediately saw and was healed. Others recovered their sight gradually as in the case of the man, who, before he was completely cured, said, βI see men as trees, walkingβ. It is the same with those whose spiritual eyes were healed.
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So what exactly are the rewards of resentment. It is always a relief to know that the reason we have failed in life is not because we lack the talent, energy, or determination to succeed, but because of a factor that is beyond our control and that has loaded the dice decisively against us.
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It's pointless to have a nice clean desk, because it means you're not doing anything.
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He was one of those men, and they are not the commonest, of whom we can know the best only by following them away from the marketplace, the platform, and the pulpit, entering with them into their own homes, hearing the voice with which they speak to the young and aged about their own hearthstone, and witnessing their thoughtful care for the everyday wants of everyday companions, who take all their kindness as a matter of course, and not as a subject for panegyric.
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Certain characteristics of the subject are clear. To begin with, we do not in this subject deal with particular things or particular properties: we deal formally with what can be said about any thing or any property. We are prepared to say that one and one are two, but not that Socrates and Plato are two.
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