Quotations For Discussion
- Natalia Wingo
- Mar 2, 2016
- 5 min read
There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
I think what this quote is saying is that nothing is truly “good” or “bad,” but the way you perceive something is what makes it “good” or “bad.” For example, Hitler is perceived today to be an evil human being, and was perceived this way in most countries outside of Europe during his reign of terror. But to himself, nazis, and other Hitler followers he was doing the right thing and anyone going against him was “evil.” It depends on what you believe to be good or bad, and how you were raised.
I very much agree with this quote. I’ve always been an avid thinker that “good” and “evil” isn’t necessarily real, because the way people think isn’t so black and white. Society will never be so black and white as to be only “good” and “evil.” There are always shades of grey between the two. The nicest person with the nicest mind could have evil thoughts at certain points about certain people or things. Or the evilest person could have a moment of humanity. There is no “good” or “evil.”
Nature is man’s workshop, and man the worker in it.
The way I’m thinking about this quote is that men work for nature but are allowed to change it as one can do in their workshop.
I really don’t agree with this quote. I think that nature has the right to change the world and not humanity. Humanity will just ruin nature if we continue this thought that we are allowed to change it as we see fit. We should not be allowed to chop down trees in rainforests to build a McDonald’s. Our rainforests hold many different animal species, most of which are becoming endangered. We can not continue the thought that we can change nature
Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically.
I think this one is saying exactly what it says. That our age is tragic, with tons of tragedies happening every day, but people refuse to accept that this is a tragic age.
I kind of agree and disagree with this one. I agree that this is indeed a tragic age. What with all the school shootings and bombings in various countries, this is definitely a tragic age. But the way that the last part is worded with “we refuse to take it tragically” makes it sound like we just go around every day pretending that nothing bad is happening. When, I do believe that that is wrong. Most people now are extremely pessimistic about this age and the people, and they are all too aware that this age is tragic.
Love and the self are the same, and the discovery of either is the realization of both.
This one is basically saying that when you find love, you are finding a portion of yourself. Or when you find yourself, you are finding love.
I think this one isn’t quite right. Unless you’re not talking about love romantically. Finding yourself, I don’t think, is the same as finding love. But, I think finding love is similar to finding yourself. Because, when you find “the one,” it’s like finding a little piece of yourself. (This is just what I’ve heard. Don’t take the word of someone who’s never been in a relationship.)
Nothing is easier to acquire than cynicism, and nothing is more essential to avoid.
This one means that cynicism and bitterness are easy to acquire, but you need to avoid it, because it gives you a not very good look of the world and one will never be truly happy if they hold on to their bitterness and cynicism.
I very much agree with this. Most of my friends have become very cynical about the world (or as they say, “realistic”). But they’ve become so cynical as to be very much against the world and the people and thinking that it’s against them as well. So, I had to take it upon myself to be the optimistic friend, because I don’t want my perception of life to be clouded with cynicism.
I never worry about the future; it comes soon enough.
The future may be super far away, but time flashes by way too quick to say that the future won’t be here for a while.
This one I agree with immensely. One should never think too much about the future, they should live in the present, because they aren’t living in the future or the past. The present is more important, because that is when you are living.
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.
To change the world, you must be able to change yourself
This one is so very true. The world can’t change if people don’t change with it. People are very selfish creatures, and we think we don’t need to change ourselves to fix something. We blame other people for our own mistakes, or we lie to make sure we don’t get in trouble. Humans are selfish, and we don’t want to change.
That which we are; we shall teach-not voluntarily, but involuntarily.
People usually learn more from involuntarily teachings rather than stuff from actual teachers.
Humans are naturally curious and we learn things from everything around us. And most of the stuff we learn isn’t stuff we learn in schools, it’s stuff we see and stuff we grow up with and are accustomed to. Teachers actually teach us very little, but other people can teach us many things.
We must welcome the future, remembering that soon it will be the past, and we must respect the past, remember that once is was all that was humanly possible.
Future will one day become the past, and the past was once the future.
Though we must live in the present, we must not forget about the future. You must be able to live in the now, but realize that the future will be here. And you must welcome the future, because it will be the past, and you must respect the past, because it was the future to your ancestors.
The tragedy about being old is not that people are old, but that people are young.
This one almost sounds like an old man who is jealous of the younger generation
I don’t like this one very much. It kind of makes me a bit mad. It’s like, just cause he’s old, it sounds like he’s bitter that he can’t be young anymore, so he blames the younger generation for the wrong in the world.
All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.
In the minds of humans, animals are animals; no matter what they are.
This one is true. For example, imagine a rat and a lion. When you imagine a rap, you imagine a dirty creature living in the sewers of New York City. But when you imagine a lion, you see a majestic animal living in the sahara surrounded by others of its kind. The lion seems much better compared to the rat, but we still call them “animals.” Then of course, we put ourselves above all other animals, and call ourselves humans not animals. Although we are indeed animals.
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