The Russian yearning for the meaning of life is the major theme of our literature, and this is the real point of our intelligentsia's existence.
Utopias now appear much more realizable than one used to think. We are now faced with a different new worry: How to prevent their realization.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects a shift in perspective regarding utopian ideals, suggesting that while they now seem achievable, the concern has moved to managing their potential consequences.
Nikolai Berdyaev's quote highlights the evolution of thought about utopias from mere dreams to attainable realities. In contemporary society, as advancements in technology and social structures make utopian ideals possible, the focus has shifted to the potential drawbacks and ethical dilemmas of bringing these ideals to fruition. The quote invites reflection on the implications of striving for a perfect society and the responsibilities that accompany such ambitions.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the future of artificial intelligence and its societal impacts.
More from Nikolai Berdyaev
All quotes βFreedom is the power to create out of nothing, the power of the spirit to create out of itself.
There is a tragic clash between Truth and the world. Pure undistorted truth burns up the world.
God is a reality of spirit He cannot be conceived as an object, not even as the very highest object. God is not to be found in the world of objects.
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The trouble with Eichmann was precisely that so many were like him, and that the many were neither perverted nor sadistic, that they were, and still are, terribly and terrifyingly normal. From the viewpoint of our legal institutions and of our moral standards of judgment, this normality was much more terrifying than all the atrocities put together.
Cease being a prisoner of the body; using the secret key of Kriya, learn to escape into Spirit.
The privileged have regularly invited their own destruction with their greed.
Words bend our thinking to infinite paths of self-delusion, and the fact that we spend most of our mental lives in brain mansions built of words means that we lack the objectivity necessary to see the terrible distortion of reality which language brings.
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In analysing history do not be too profound, for often the causes are quite superficial.