American politics is a struggle, not of men but of forces. The men become every year more and more creatures of force, massed about central power houses.
Henry AdamsRead
Man is an imperceptible atom always trying to become one with God.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that human beings are small and often unaware, yet they aspire for a greater connection with the divine.
Henry Adams uses the metaphor of 'imperceptible atom' to express the idea that humans, despite their insignificance in the grand scheme of the universe, have an inherent desire to connect with something greater than themselvesβGod. This reflects on the existential struggle of seeking purpose and unity in a vast, often indifferent universe, highlighting the tension between our smallness and our aspirations for spiritual or existential fulfillment.
Themes
HumanitySpiritualityConnectionAspirationDivine
In practice
Example use cases
In a philosophy class discussion about the nature of existence.
More from Henry Adams
All quotes βOf all studies, the one he would rather have avoided was that of his own mind. He knew no tragedy so heartrending as introspection.
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Simplicity is the most deceitful mistress that ever betrayed man.
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Church and State, Soul and Body, God and Man, are all one at Mont Saint Michel, and the business of all is to fight, each in his own way, or to stand guard for each other.
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The American President resembles the commander of a ship at sea. He must have a helm to grasp, a course to steer, a port to seek.
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The effect of power and publicity on all men is the aggravation of self, a sort of tumor that ends by killing the victim's sympathies.
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Similar quotes
Losing faith is a complicated business and takes time. There are no epiphanies, no "moments of truth." It takes much thought and concentration in the later phases, which thenselves come about through an accumulation of small accidents: examples of general injustice, misfortune falling upon the godly, prayers of one's own unanswered.
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Revolutionaries see history as a creation of their own spirit, as being made up of a continuous series of violent tugs at the other forces of society - both active and passive, and they prepare the maximum of favourable conditions for the definitive tug (revolution).
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I am too intelligent, too demanding, and too resourceful for anyone to be able to take charge of me entirely. No one knows me or loves me completely. I have only myself
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A bad peace is even worse than war.
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Take faith, for example. For many people in our world, the opposite of faith is doubt. The goal, then, within this understanding, is to eliminate doubt. But faith and doubt aren't opposites. Doubt is often a sign that your faith has a pulse, that it's alive and well and exploring and searching. Faith and doubt aren't opposites, they are, it turns out, excellent dance partners.
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The trace left behind is substituted for the practice. It exhibits the (voracious) property that the geographical system has of being able to transform action into legibility, but in doing so it causes a way of being in the world to be forgotten.
Michel De CerteauRead