It takes a wonderful brain and exquisite senses to produce a few stupid ideas.
George SantayanaRead
why shouldnt things be largely absurd, futile, and transitory? they are so, and we are so, and they and we go together.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Life is inherently absurd and transient, and we are part of that reality.
George Santayana reflects on the absurd and ephemeral nature of life, suggesting that both existence and our experiences are intertwined with qualities of futility and transience. He encourages an acceptance of this absurdity, positing that understanding our absurd nature can lead to a more profound acceptance of lifeβs inevitable realities.
Themes
AbsurdFutilityTransienceLifeExistencePhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on existentialism, the quote can be used to illustrate the absurdity of life.
More from George Santayana
All quotes βThe working of great institutions is mainly the result of a vast mass of routine, petty malice, self interest, carelessness and sheer mistake. Only a residual fraction is thought.
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Not to believe in love is a great sign of dullness. There are some people so indirect and lumbering that they think all real affection rests on circumstantial evidence.
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To feel beauty is a better thing than to understand how we come to feel it. To have imagination and taste, to love the best, to be carried by the contemplation of nature to a vivid faith in the ideal, all this is more, a great deal more, than any science can hope to be.
George SantayanaRead
The vital straining towards an ideal, definite but latent, when it dominates a whole life, may express that ideal more fully than could the best chosen words.
George SantayanaRead
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