QuoteProject
That which lives on reason lives against the spirit.
Paracelsus
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The pursuit of reason can sometimes conflict with our spiritual or emotional experiences.

Paracelsus' quote suggests that an life solely guided by reason and logic may lead one to neglect or even oppose the deeper, spiritual aspects of existence. It implies that a balanced life requires harmony between rational thought and the richness of the human spirit, indicating that an overemphasis on reason can diminish the fullness of life.

Themes

ReasonSpiritBalancePhilosophyLife

In practice

Example use cases

In a motivational speech about the importance of emotional intelligence in decision-making.

More from Paracelsus

The art of healing comes from nature, not from the physician. Therefore the physician must start from nature, with an open mind.
ParacelsusRead
Know that the philosopher has power over the stars, and not the stars over him.
ParacelsusRead
The human body is vapor materialized by sunshine mixed with the life of the stars.
ParacelsusRead
All things are poisons, for there is nothing without poisonous qualities. It is only the dose which makes a thing poison.
ParacelsusRead
It should be forbidden and severely punished to remove cancer by cutting, burning, cautery, and other fiendish tortures. It is from nature that the disease comes, and from nature comes the cure, not from physicians.
ParacelsusRead
Life is like music, it must be composed by ear, feeling and instinct, not by rule. Nevertheless one had better know the rules, for they sometimes guide in doubtful cases, though not often.
ParacelsusRead

Similar quotes

No experimental result can ever kill a theory: any theory can be saved from counterinstances either by some auxiliary hypothesis or by a suitable reinterpretation of its terms.
Imre LakatosRead
Each nation has a main current in life; in India it is religion. Make it strong and the waters on either side must move along with it.
Swami VivekanandaRead
The frustrating part of being tagged 'controversial' is people go looking for trouble where there isn't any to look for.
Salman RushdieRead
In so far as one denies what is, one is possessed by what is not, the compulsions, the fantasies, the terrors that flock to fill the void.
Ursula K. Le GuinRead
The West may collapse very suddenly. Complex civilizations do that, because they operate, most of the time, on the edge of chaos.
Niall FergusonRead
Poverty is a reaper: it harvests everything inside us that might have made us capable of social intercourse with others, and leaves us empty, purged of feeling, so that we may endure all the darkness of the present day.
Muriel BarberyRead

A little wisdom, now and then

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