To establish oneself in the world, one does all one can to seem established there already.
Francois De La RochefoucauldRead
There are no prescriptive solutions, no grand designs for grand problems. Life's solutions lie in the minute particulars involving more and more individual people daring to create their own life and art, daring to listen to the voice within their deepest, original nature, and deeper still, the voice within the earth.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes that solutions to life's challenges are found in individual expression and personal authenticity.
Stephen Nachmanovitch articulates the idea that there are no one-size-fits-all answers to life's complex problems. Instead, he suggests that each person must engage with their unique experiences and inner voice, reflecting their true nature and connection to the world. The journey towards personal and artistic fulfillment is not dictated by external standards but inspired by individual creativity and the inherent wisdom found in nature.
In practice
In a motivational speech, one could use this quote to inspire individuals to pursue their passions.
To establish oneself in the world, one does all one can to seem established there already.
One feels as if it could never, never be less. And yet all griefs, when there is no bitterness in them, are soothed down by time.
In mystical traditions, it is one's own readiness that makes experiences exoteric or esoteric. The secret isn't that you're not being told. The secret is that you're not able to hear.
It is not suffering as such that is most deeply feared but suffering that degrades.
The Lord has said, ‘I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.’ (Isaiah 48:10, 1 Nephi 20:10). He knows, being omniscient, how we will cope with affliction beforehand. But we do not know this. We need, therefore, the refining that God gives to us, though we do not seek or crave such tribulation.
I am a person before I am anything else. I never say I am a writer. I never say I am an artist...I am a person who does those things.
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