Associate with the noblest people you can find; read the best books; live with the mighty; but learn to be happy alone.
Saul BellowRead
The physical body is an agent of the spirit and its mirror. It is an engine and a reflection of the spirit. It is the spirit's ingenious memorandum to itself and the spirit sees itself in my body, just as I see my own face in a looking glass. My nerves reflect this. The earth is literally a mirror of thoughts. Objects themselves are embodied thoughts. Death is the dark backing that a mirror needs if we are to see anything.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that the physical body reflects our spiritual essence, and our thoughts manifest in the material world.
Saul Bellow's quote delves into the intricate relationship between the physical and the spiritual aspects of existence. He portrays the body as both an expression and reflection of the spirit, emphasizing that our thoughts and essence are mirrored in our physical surroundings. The notion that death acts as a backdrop allows us to appreciate life and our existence more profoundly, suggesting that our experiences and the world around us are deeply interconnected reflections of our inner selves.
Themes
SpiritBodyReflectionThoughtsDeathExistence
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational talk about self-awareness, this quote could be used to emphasize the connection between our inner thoughts and our outer reality.
More from Saul Bellow
All quotes →When we ask for advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice.
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In here, the human bosom -- mine, yours, everybody's -- there isn't just one soul. There's a lot of souls. But there are two main ones, the real soul and a pretender soul. Now! Every man realizes that he has to love something or somebody. He feels that he must go outward. 'If thou canst not love, what art thou?' Are you with me?
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I've discovered that rejections are not altogether a bad thing. They teach a writer to rely on his own judgment and to say in his heart of hearts, 'To hell with you.'
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I see that I've become a really bad correspondent. It's not that I don't think of you. You come into my thoughts often. But when you do it appears to me that I owe you a particularly grand letter. And so you end in the "warehouse of good intentions": "Can't do it now." "Then put it on hold." This is one's strategy for coping with old age, and with death--because one can't die with so many obligations in storage. Our clever species, so fertile and resourceful in denying its weaknesses.
Saul BellowRead
A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.
Saul BellowRead
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