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Emmanuel Levinas

Emmanuel Levinas Quotes

Philosopher

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Famous Emmanuel Levinas Quotes

“To approach the Other in conversation is to welcome his expression, in which at each instant he overflows the idea a thought would carry away from it. It is therefore to receive from the Other beyond the capacity of the I, which means exactly: to have the idea of infinity. But this also means: to be taught. The relation with the Other, or Conversation, is a non-allergic relation, an ethical relation; but inasmuch as it is welcomed this conversation is a teaching. Teaching is not reducible to maieutics; it comes from the exterior and brings me more than I contain. In its non-violent transitivity the very epiphany of the face is produced.”

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Book:Totality and Infinity: An Essay on Exteriority
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“In weariness, existence is like the reminder of a commitment to exist, with all the seriousness and harshness of an irrevocable contract. One has to do something, one has to aspire after and undertake [...] In weariness we want to escape existence itself, and not only one of its landscapes in a longing for more beautiful skies. An evasion without an itinerary and without an end, it is not trying to come ashore somewhere.”

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Book:Existence and Existents
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“De beschaving is wezenlijk hypocriet , dat wil zeggen zowel gehecht aan het Ware als aan het Goede, die voortaan elkaars tegenspelers zijn. Het is misschien tijd om in de hypocrisie niet slechts een toevallig kwalijk gebrek van de mens te zien, maar de diepe verscheurdheid van een wereld die tegelijkertijd gehecht is aan filosofen en aan profeten.”

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Book:Totality and Infinity: An Essay on Exteriority
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