QuoteProject
It is necessary ... for a man to go away by himself ... to sit on a rock ... and ask, 'Who am I, where have I been, and where am I going?
Carl Sandburg
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote emphasizes the importance of self-reflection and solitude for personal understanding.

Carl Sandburg's quote suggests that to truly understand oneself, one must spend time in solitude and contemplation. By asking fundamental questions about identity and direction in life, we can gain clarity and insight into our existence and purpose.

Themes

Self-ReflectionSolitudeIdentityContemplationPhilosophy

In practice

Example use cases

During a personal development workshop, the speaker referenced this quote to underline the value of introspection.

More from Carl Sandburg

Give me hunger, pain and want, Shut me out with shame and failure From your doors of gold and fame, Give me your shabbiest, weariest hunger! But leave me a little love.
Carl SandburgRead
Nothing happens... but first a dream.
Carl SandburgRead
Read the dictionary from A to Izzard today. Get a vocabulary. Brush up on your diction. See whether wisdom is just a lot of language.
Carl SandburgRead
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Carl SandburgRead
There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud.
Carl SandburgRead
A liar goes in fine clothes, a liar goes in rags, a liar is a liar, clothes or no clothes.
Carl SandburgRead

Similar quotes

When it comes to controlling human beings there is no better instrument than lies. Because, you see, humans live by beliefs. And beliefs can be manipulated. The power to manipulate beliefs is the only thing that counts ... Who knows what use they’ll make of you? Maybe you’ll help them to persuade people to buy things they don’t need, or hate things they know nothing about, or hold beliefs that make them easy to handle, or doubt the truths that might save them.
Michael EndeRead
Will minus intellect constitutes vulgarity.
Arthur SchopenhauerRead
Religion and practical life are not different. To take sanyas (renunciation) is not to abandon life. The real spirit is to make the country, your family, work together instead of working only for your own. The step beyond is to serve humanity and the next step is to serve God.
Bal Gangadhar TilakRead
Many Spirit-filled authors have exhausted the thesaurus in order to describe God with the glory He deserves. His perfect holiness, by definition, assures us that our words can't contain Him. Isn't it a comfort to worship a God we cannot exaggerate?
Francis ChanRead
A statement is persuasive and credible either because it is directly self-evident or because it appears to be proved from other statements that are so.
AristotleRead
There is something noble in hearing myself ill spoken of, when I am doing well.
Alexander The GreatRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.