“In accordance with my conception of life, I have chosen not to bring children into the world. A coin is examined, and only after careful deliberation, given to a beggar, whereas a child is flung out into the cosmic brutality without hesitation.” WorldChildrenChoicesGivenCarefulChosenConceptionCosmicCoinsBeggarBrutalityHesitationChildbirthExaminingDeliberationChildlessness Author:Peter Wessel Zapffe
“Man is a tragic animal. Not because of his smallness, but because he is too well endowed. Man has longings and spiritual demands that reality cannot fulfill. We have expectations of a just and moral world. Man requires meaning in a meaningless world.” MenWorldInspirationalWellsRealitySpiritualAnimalMoralHuman NatureDemandExpectationsLongingLawyerMeaning Of LifeTragicMeaninglessFulfillingSmallnessHigh Expectations Author:Peter Wessel Zapffe
“We come from an inconceivable nothingness. We stay a while in something which seems equally inconceivable, only to vanish again into the inconceivable nothingness.” LifeSeemsLawyerMeaning Of LifeNothingnessVanishing Author:Peter Wessel Zapffe
“The seed of a metaphysical or religious defeat is in us all. For the honest questioner, however, who doesn't seek refuge in some faith or fantasy, there will never be an answer.” ReligiousAnswersFantasyHonestDefeatSeedsRefugeMetaphysical Author:Peter Wessel Zapffe
“The tragedy of a species becoming unfit for life by over-evolving one ability is not confined to humankind. Thus it is thought, for instance, that certain deer in paleontological times succumbed as they acquired overly-heavy horns. The mutations must be considered blind, they work, are thrown forth, without any contact of interest with their environment. In depressive states, the mind may be seen in the image of such an antler, in all its fantastic splendour pinning its bearer to the ground.” MindMayStatesCertainInterestAbilityEnvironmentBecomingTragedyBlindSpeciesHeavyContactInstanceFantasticEvolveThrownHumankindHornsConfinedDeerMutationSplendourDepressiveAntlers Author:Peter Wessel Zapffe
“Each new generation asks – What is the meaning of life? A more fertile way of putting the question would be – Why does man need a meaning to life?” MenWayNeedsDoeWould BeAsksGenerationsMeaning Of LifeNew GenerationFertileMeaning LifeWhat Is The Meaning Of LifeWhat Is The Meaning Author:Peter Wessel Zapffe
“Know yourselves- be infertile and let the earth be silent after ye.” KnowsEarthSilent Author:Peter Wessel Zapffe
“A coin is turned around before it is handed to the beggar, yet a child is unflinchingly tossed into cosmic bruteness.” ChildrenCosmicCoinsBeggar Author:Peter Wessel Zapffe
“When a human being takes his life in depression, this is a natural death of spiritual causes. The modern barbarity of 'saving' the suicidal is based on a hair-raising misapprehension of the nature of existence.” HumansSpiritualCausesNaturalHuman BeingsExistenceModernHairSavingSuicidalBarbarityNatural Death Author:Peter Wessel Zapffe
“The immediate facts are what we must relate to. Darkness and light, beginning and end.” EndsFactsLightDarknessRelateLight And DarknessBeginnings And Ends Author:Peter Wessel Zapffe