He had learned long ago that, in general, the easier it was for anxious patients to reach him, the less likely they were to call. (107)
Irvin D. YalomRead
A sense of life meaning ensues but cannot be deliberately pursued: life meaning is always a derivative phenomenon that materializes when we have transcended ourselves, when we have forgotten ourselves and become absorbed in someone (or something) outside ourselves
Interpretation
True meaning in life arises from self-transcendence and connection with others.
This quote by Irvin D. Yalom suggests that the pursuit of meaning in life cannot be a primary goal; instead, it is a byproduct that occurs when individuals immerse themselves in experiences or relationships that are greater than themselves. Engaging deeply with others or with meaningful tasks leads to a sense of fulfillment and purpose, which emerges naturally rather than being forced.
In practice
In a speech about finding purpose, this quote can remind us to focus on our bonds with others.
He had learned long ago that, in general, the easier it was for anxious patients to reach him, the less likely they were to call. (107)
A curious thought experiment. . . Nietzsche's message to us was to live life in such a way that we would be willing to repeat the same life eternally
Marriage and its entourage of possession and jealousy enslave the spirit.
It is wrong to bear children out of need, wrong to use a child to alleviate loneliness, wrong to provide purpose in life by reproducing another copy of oneself. It is wrong also to seek immortality by spewing one's germ into the future as though sperm contains your consciousness!
Life is a spark between two identical voids, the darkness before birth and the one after death.
I dream of a love that is more than two people craving to possess one another.
A weak soul does not have the endurance to resist the flesh for very long. It grows heavy, becomes flesh itself, and the contest ends. But among responsible men, men who keep their eyes riveted day and night upon the Supreme Duty, the conflict between flesh and spirit breaks out mercilessly and may last until death.
The Old Testament God is a person with body parts and passions. The Church of England God has neither body, parts nor passions, and is therefore not a person.
It's all a question of story. We are in trouble just now because we do not have a good story. We are in between stories. The old story, the account of how we fit into it, is no longer effective. Yet we have not learned the new story.
Religion must be used in furthering great works of justice and reform. It must be used to establish right relations between different groups of men, and thus to make a reality of brotherhood. It must be used to abolish poverty, the breeding ground of all misery and crime, by distributing equably among men the abundance of the soil. And it must be used to get rid of war and to establish enduring peace. Here is the supreme test of the effectiveness of religion.
We spend our lives on the run: we get up by the clock, eat and sleep by the clock, get up again, go to work - and then we retire. And what do they give us? A bloody clock.
No people is wholly civilized where a distinction is drawn between stealing an office and stealing a purse.
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