Humor distorts nothing, and only false gods are laughed off their earthly pedestals.
Agnes RepplierRead
People who cannot recognize a palpable absurdity are very much in the way of civilization.
Interpretation
Recognizing absurdities is crucial for progress in society.
Agnes Repplier's quote highlights the importance of acknowledging absurdities in life for the betterment of civilization. Those who fail to see the ridiculousness in certain situations or beliefs can hinder societal growth and critical thinking, suggesting that a confrontation with absurdity can lead to a more enlightened and progressive society.
In practice
In a speech about social change, quoting Repplier can emphasize the need for awareness of absurdities in outdated systems.
Humor distorts nothing, and only false gods are laughed off their earthly pedestals.
It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere.
Who that has plodded on to middle age would take back upon his shoulders ten of the vanished years, with their mingled pleasures and pains? Who would return to the youth he is forever pretending to regret?
We will never be cleansed until we confess we are dirty. And we will never be able to wash the feet of those who have hurt us until we allow Jesus, the one we have hurt, to wash ours.
This new world hath been the asylum for the persecuted lovers of civil and religious liberty from every part of Europe. Hither have they fled, not from the tender embraces of the mother, but from the cruelty of the monster; and it is so far true of England, that the same tyranny which drove the first emigrants from home, pursues their descendants still.
There's more to be learned here [St. Andrews] about course design than anywhere. Collection bunkers, false fronts, bump shots. The fundamentals of design became fundamental because of what's here. And it happened accidentally. Or maybe accidentally on purpose.
The real hell of life is that everyone has his reasons.
There is a community of the spirit. Join it, and feel the delight of walking in the noisy street and being the noise. Drink all your passion, and be a disgrace. Close both eyes to see with the other eye.
Begin with dhyana, with meditation, and end in samadhi, in ecstasy, and you will know what God is. It is not a hypothesis, it is an experience. You have to LIVE it - that is the only way to know it.
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