Why has time disappeared in our culture? How is it that after decades of inventions and new technologies devoted to saving time and labor, the result is that there is no time left? We are a time-poor society; we are temporally impoverished. And there is no issue, no aspect of human life, that exceeds this in importance. The destruction of time is literally the destruction of life.
Interpretation
This quote laments the paradox of modern life, where advancements meant to save time have led to a scarcity of it.
Jacob Needleman highlights a profound contradiction in contemporary society: despite numerous technological innovations aimed at increasing efficiency and saving time, individuals often find themselves feeling overwhelmed and devoid of time. He argues that this phenomenon of being 'time-poor' is a critical issue that directly impacts the quality and essence of human existence, equating the loss of time with the loss of life itself.
In practice
In a discussion about work-life balance, this quote serves as a reminder of the importance of managing our time effectively.
It is a pathetic moment in the history of the human condition when the outside world tells us who and what we are - and we start to believe it ourselves. Then, bent over from the weight of the negativity, we start to wither on the outside.
Whatever else there may be in our nature, responsibility toward truth is one of its attributes.
Each person does see the world in a different way. There is not a single, unifying, objective truth. We're all limited by our perspective.
One is almost tempted to say that the language itself is a mythology deprived of its vitality, a bloodless mythology so to speak, which has only preserved in a formal and abstract form what mythology contains in living and concrete form.
Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers.
Willingly no one chooses the yoke of slavery.
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