On the night that the Second World war was declared, there were crowds in the street. It was a summer's night and there was a blackout. On every side you heard people crying: 'Look at the moon!' The moon had been there every minute of their lives and they'd never seen it.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the human tendency to overlook beauty in everyday life until faced with significant events.
Laurens Van Der Post's quote highlights the profound realization that during moments of crisis or change, individuals often become aware of the beauty and wonder that exists in their environment, such as the moon which is usually taken for granted. The declaration of war, a moment of darkness, led people to notice and appreciate something they had always overlooked, suggesting that significant events can awaken our senses and prompt us to see the world anew.
In practice
A motivational speaker might use this quote to emphasize the importance of appreciating the small things in life.
A religion true to its nature must also be concerned about man's social conditions....A ny religion that professes to be concerned with the souls of men and is not concerned with the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them, and the social conditions that cripple them is a dry-as-dust religion.
Oh, without prayer what are the church's agencies, but the stretching out of a dead man's arm, or the lifting up of the lid of a blind man's eye? Only when the Holy Spirit comes is there any life and force and power.
It is not that the meaning cannot be explained. But there are certain meanings that are lost forever the moment they are explained in words.
Surviving - that is the other name of a mourning whose possibility is never to be awaited.
All sciences are now under the obligation to prepare the ground for the future task of the philosopher, which is to solve the problem of value, to determine the true hierarchy of values.
No man is sane who does not know how to be insane on proper occasions.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.