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Quote by Ernest Becker

“Man cannot endure his own littleness unless he can translate it into meaningfulness on the largest possible level.”

Quote by Ernest Becker

Book:The Denial of Death

Work

The Denial of Death

This book delves into the psychological mechanisms that drive individuals to repress thoughts of death, examining the various coping strategies and cultural responses to the inevitability of mortality. more

Author

Ernest Becker was an American anthropologist known for his theories on human motivation and culture. His major work, 'The Denial of Death', explores how humans seek meaning and purpose by denying the fear brought by freedom. more

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“What is the ideal for mental health, then? A lived, compelling illusion that does not lie about life, death, and reality; one honest enough to follow its own commandments: I mean, not to kill, not to take the lives of others to justify itself.”

Mean Doe Enough Reality Lying Honest Illusion Ideals Mental Health Justify Compelling Existential Commandments Life Death Lives Of Others

Book:The Denial of Death

Source: The Denial of Death

“A myth is a way of making sense in a senseless world. Myths are narrative patterns that give significance to our existence.”

World Way Giving Existence Patterns Myth Narrative Make Sense Existentialism Significance

Book:The Cry for Myth

Source: The Cry for Myth

“There can be no stronger proof of the impoverishment of our contemporary culture than the popular - though profoundly mistaken - definition of myth as falsehood.”

Culture Stronger Definitions Myth Proof Contemporary Existentialism Falsehood Existential Mistaken

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Source: The Cry for Myth

“Indeed, compulsive and rigid moralism arises in given persons precisely as the result of a lack of sense of being. Rigid moralism is a compensatory mechanism by which the individual persuades himself to take over the external sanctions because he has no fundamental assurance that his own choices have any sanction of their own”

Persons Choices Individual Given Results Fundamentals Arise Existentialism Mechanism Existential Assurance Sanctions Moralism

Book:Existence

Source: Existence

“That is the trick of good government. To make folk desire to live in such a way that there is no need for its intervention.”

Way Needs Government Desire Folks Tricks Intervention Desire To Live

Book:Assassin's Apprentice: The Farseer Trilogy

Source: Assassin's Apprentice: The Farseer Trilogy

“No shepherd and one herd! Everybody wants the same, everybody is the same: whoever feels different goes voluntarily into a madhouse.”

Want Feels Different Existentialism Conformity Existential Herds Shepherds Madhouses

Book:The Portable Nietzsche

Source: The Portable Nietzsche

“the best existential analysis of the human condition leads directly into the problems of God and faith”

Humans Problem Conditions Analysis Existentialism Human Condition Existential Denial Of Death

Book:The Denial of Death

Source: The Denial of Death

“The desire for a strong faith is not the proof of a strong faith, rather the opposite. If one has it one may permit oneself the beautiful luxury of skepticism: one is secure enough, fixed enough for it.”

Ifs May Enough Beautiful Desire Strong Opposites Oneself Proof Secure Luxury Fixed Existentialism Permit Skepticism Existential Strong Faith

Author:Friedrich Nietzsche

“One must have at least a readiness to love the other person, broadly speaking, if one is to be able to understand him.”

Ifs Persons Able Existentialism Existential Readiness

Book:Existence

Source: Existence

“When we are dealing with human beings, no truth has reality by itself; it is always dependent upon the reality of the immediate relationship.”

Humans Reality Human Beings Existentialism Dependent Existential

Book:Existence

Source: Existence