The sun, the moon and the stars would have disappeared long ago... had they happened to be within the reach of predatory human hands.
Havelock EllisRead
To live remains an art which everyone must learn, and which no one can teach.
Interpretation
Living is a skill that one must acquire individually; it cannot be simply taught by others.
Havelock Ellis suggests that the process of truly living life is akin to mastering an art form. While guidance can be offered, each person must navigate their own experiences, learn from them, and develop their unique approach to life. This implies that self-discovery and personal understanding are essential for a fulfilling existence.
In practice
This quote is perfect for a personal development workshop.
The sun, the moon and the stars would have disappeared long ago... had they happened to be within the reach of predatory human hands.
Life is livable because we know that wherever we go most of the people we meet will be restrained in their actions towards us by an almost instinctive network of taboos.
The absence of flaw in beauty is itself a flaw.
Every man of genius sees the world at a different angle from his fellows, and there is his tragedy.
It is on our failures that we base a new and different and better success.
It is becoming clear that the old platitudes can no longer be maintained, and that if we wish to improve our morals we must first improve our knowledge.
I do not hold to non-violence for moral reasons, but for political and practical reasons.
At the age of twelve I had an attitude toward life that was to endure, that was to make me seek those areas of living that would keep it alive, that was to make me skeptical of everything while seeking everything, tolerant of all and yet critical. The spirit I had caught gave me insight into the suffering of others, made me gravitate toward those whose feelings were like my own, made me sit for hours while others told me of their lives, made me strangely tender and cruel, violent and peaceful.
Better than worshiping gods is obedience to the laws of righteousness.
Some people like the Jews, and some do not. But no thoughtful man can deny the fact that they are, beyond any question, the most formidable and the most remarkable race which has appeared in the world.
Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence– whether much that is glorious– whether all that is profound– does not spring from disease of thought– from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect.
They watch on, evil, incredibly stupid, enjoying my destruction. 'Poor Grendel's had an accident,' I whisper. 'So may you all.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.