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Existence Quotes

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Existence Quotes

“Of all the major religions, or lack thereof, the atheist's is one of the best pretenders: his foundation for all existences, as well as moral behaviors for the permanent good of mankind, begins at science but ends at himself, the Napoleon complex of both intelligence and imagination. On the other hand the anti-theist wouldn't survive without a deity beyond himself to hunt. He doesn't pretend, he simply nullifies his own position.”

WellsEndsHandsImaginationExistenceMoralMankindPositionBehaviorMajorsFoundationComplexesAtheistPermanentHuntsDeitiesTheismTheistPretenderMoral BehaviorNapoleon Complex
Book:Killosophy
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“To gauge the understanding and insight that metaphysics provides is to ask whether, in the final analysis, it helps us to cope with our world and harmonize our existence with nature, humanity, and ourselves, and leads to greater freedom and self-realization. Metaphysics is only the beginning. The end is human progress.”

WorldHumansEndsSelfHelpingHumanityAsksUnderstandingExistenceGreaterProgressSocietyFinalsInsightSelf RealizationRealizationAnalysisOur WorldMetaphysicsHuman ProgressGauges
Author:Rudolph Rummel
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“I am delighted to have you play football. I believe in rough, manly sports. But I do not believe in them if they degenerate into the sole end of any one's existence. I don't want you to sacrifice standing well in your studies to any over-athleticism; and I need not tell you that character counts for a great deal more than either intellect or body in winning success in life. Athletic proficiency is a mighty good servant, and like so many other good servants, a mighty bad master.”

IfsWantNeedsBelieveWellsEndsPlayCharacterBodyWinningI BelieveSportsDealsExistenceStudySacrificeFootballMastersStandingI Believe InIntellectSoccerServantRoughSoleSuccess In LifeAthleticDelightedManlyDegeneratesProficiencyAthleticism
Book:Theodore Roosevelt's Letters to His Children
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“The doctrine of equality! ... But there is no more venomous poison in existence: for it appears to be preached by justice itself, when it is actually the end of justice ... "Equality to the equal; inequality to the unequal" that would be true justice speaking: and its corollary, "never make the unequal equal".”

EndsWould BeJusticeExistenceEqualDoctrineBeing TrueInequalityPoisonVenomousJustice EqualityTrue Justice
Book:Twilight of the Idols
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“But deepest of all illusory Appearances, for hiding Wonder, as for many other ends, are your two grand fundamental world-enveloping Appearances, SPACE and TIME. These, as spun and woven for us from before Birth itself, to clothe our celestial ME for dwelling here, and yet to blind it, lie all-embracing, as the universal canvas, or warp and woof, whereby all minor Illusions, in this Phantasm Existence, weave and paint themselves. In vain, while here on Earth, shall you endeavor to strip them off; you can, at best, but rend them asunder for moments, and look through.”

WorldLooksTwoEndsMomentsEarthLyingSpaceExistenceWonderBirthIllusionUniversalFundamentalsBlindPaintAppearanceVainEndeavorHidingMinorsCanvasTime And SpaceDwellingCelestialWovenIllusorySpunWarp
Book:Carlyle Reader
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“His [Turgot's] first important literary and scholastic effort was a treatise On the Existence of God. Few fragments of it remain, but we are helped to understand him when we learn that he asserted, and to the end of his life maintained, his belief in an Almighty Creator and Upholder of the Universe. It did, indeed, at a later period suit the purposes of his enemies, exasperated by his tolerant spirit and his reforming plans, to proclaim him an atheist; but that sort of charge has been the commonest of missiles against troublesome thinkers in all times.”

FirstsHas BeensImportantEndsSpiritPurposeUniverseBeliefEffortExistenceEnemyPlansPeriodsAtheistCreatorSuitsAll TimeThinkerAlmightyFragmentsMissilesTroublesomeExistence Of GodScholastics
Author:Andrew Dickson White
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“The preceding criticism justifies the following definition of the entire human: human existence as the life of "unmotivated" celebration, celebration in all meaning of the word: laughter, dancing, orgy, the rejection of subordination, and sacrifice that scornfully puts aside any consideration of ends, property, and morality.”

HumansEndsExistenceSacrificeMoralityLaughterCriticismDancingPropertyDefinitionsFollowingRejectionConsiderationJustifyCelebrationHuman ExistenceSubordinationUnmotivated
Author:Georges Bataille
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“It is not unreasonable to assume that the works of God, their existence and preceding non-existence, are the result of His wisdom, but we are unable to understand many of the ways of His Wisdom in His works. On this principle the whole Law of Moses is based; it begins with this principle: "And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good" (Gen. i. 31); and it ends with this principle: "The Rock, perfect is His work" (Deut. xxxii. 4). Note it.”

WayMadeEndsWholeLawPerfectResultsExistencePrinciplesSawsRocksAssumingNotesVery GoodMosesUnreasonableNon Existence
Book:The Guide for the Perplexed
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“This is exactly the message that fairy tales get across to the child in manifold form: that a struggle against severe difficulties in life is unavoidable, is an intrinsic part of human existence -- but that if one does not shy away, but steadfastly meets unexpected and often unjust hardships, one masters all obstacles and at the end emerges victorious.”

IfsLifeHumansChildrenDoeEndsMotivationalFormLife IsExistenceStruggleMastersVictoryMessagesDifficultyAdversityObstaclesTalesUpliftingFairyHard TimesUnexpectedShyHardshipFairy TaleSevereUnjustEncouragingTough TimesOvercoming AdversityHuman ExistenceFairytaleWords Of EncouragementManifold
Book:The uses of enchantment: the meaning and importance of fairy tales
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“Theology recognizes the contingency of human existence only to derive it from a necessary being, that is, to remove it. Theology makes use of philosophical wonder only for the purpose of motivating an affirmation which ends it. Philosophy, on the other hand, arouses us to what is problematic in our own existence and in that of the world, to such a point that we shall never be cured of searching for a solution.”

WorldHumansEndsPhilosophyUseHandsPurposeExistenceWonderSolutionsPhilosophicalTheologyRemoveAffirmationHuman ExistenceContingency
Book:In Praise of Philosophy and Other Essays
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“Someone in the society has to deal with the reality that there are finite resources and we're making trade-offs, and be explicit about that. When the car companies were found to have a memo that actually said, "This safety feature costs X and saved Y lives," the very existence of that memo was considered damning. Or when you made it reimbursable for a doctor to ask, "Do you want heroic care at the end-of-life," that was a death panel. No, it wasn't a death panel! It was asking somebody to make a decision.”

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Author:Bill Gates
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“But to everything in this world there comes an end; there even comes an end to the torments suffered in those intermediate states of transition when the last secret tear of one's soul is bitterly swallowed, and the crisis passes, resolving itself into some new sort of phase, which even as it comes into existence is fated in turn to pass away, to disappear in the eternal changing of the times and seasons.”

WorldSoulEndsStatesLastsTurnsSecretExistenceThis WorldTearsEternalSeasonsCrisisDisappearTransitionPhasesTormentPassing Away
Book:How It All Began: The Prison Novel
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“This is part of the involuntary bargain we make with the world just by being alive. We get to experiences the splendor of nature, the beauty of art, the balm of love and the sheer joy of existence, always with the knowledge that illness, injury, natural disaster, or pure evil can end it in an instant for ourselves or someone we love.”

WorldArtEndsJoyEvilNaturalExistenceAlivePureIllnessDisasterInstantInjurySheerBargainsSplendorInvoluntaryNatural DisasterSheer JoyPure Evil
Author:Jeff Greenfield
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“The 'Cercle et Carré' group owes its existence to my encounter with the Uruguayan painter Torrès-Gracia in 1929... However difficult our relationship, his obstinacy matching my patience, this unholy team of fire and water was bound to produce something. Towards the end of the year, after consulting sundry artists, including Arp, Mondrian, and Van Doesburg, we drew up the program for a new group and launched a magazine which was be called 'Cercle et Carré'.”

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Author:Michel Seuphor
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“Man feels and ponders death as though it were the end, when in fact death is merely the continuation of life. It is another life. You may not believe in the existence of the soul, yet you must acknowledge that your body will live on as green grass, as a cloud. For you are, after all, water and dust.”

MenFeelsBelieveMaySoulEndsFactsBodyWaterExistenceGreenCloudsYour BodyDustGrassAcknowledgePonderingContinuationAnother LifeGreen GrassContinuation Of Life
Book:Ghetto Diary
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“The Perennial Philosophy is expressed most succinctly in the Sanskrit formula, tat tvam asi ('That art thou'); the Atman, or immanent eternal Self, is one with Brahman, the Absolute Principle of all existence; and the last end of every human being, is to discover the fact for himself, to find out who he really is.”

HumansArtEndsSelfPhilosophyFactsLastsHuman BeingsExistencePrinciplesEternalAbsolutesFormulasBrahmanAtmanSanskrit
Book:The Perennial Philosophy: An Interpretation of the Great Mystics, East and West
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“Since zombies are not fully dead, they upset the essential balance of nature: no animals eat zombies, apparently, and zombies do not seem to decay, at least, not to the point of disintegration and reintegration back into the soil, so the food chain, or the circle of life, seems to end or be short-circuited by their existence. Zombies fulfill the worst potentialities of humans to create a hellish kingdom on earth of endless, sterile repetition and boredom.”

HumansEndsSeemsEarthAnimalExistenceWorstBalanceEssentialsCirclesEndlessKingdomsChainsUpsetBoredomSoilDecayRepetitionZombieFood ChainDisintegrationCircle Of LifeReintegration
Book:Gospel of the Living Dead: George Romero's Visions of Hell on Earth
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“In the end, people don't view their life as merely the average of all its moments-which, after all, is mostly nothing much plus some sleep. For human beings, life is meaningful because it is a story. A story has a sense of a whole, and its arc is determined by the significant moments, the ones where something happens. Measurements of people's minute-by-minute levels of pleasure and pain miss this fundamental aspect of human existence. A seemingly happy life maybe empty. A seemingly difficult life may be devoted to a great cause. We have purposes larger than ourselves.”

PeopleHumansMayEndsWholeMomentsStoriesHappensPainLife IsPurposeCausesDifficultHuman BeingsSleepPleasureLevelsViewsExistenceMinutesMissingAspectEmptyFundamentalsAverageDeterminedMeaningfulSignificantThings HappenPlusHappy LifeDevotedMeasurementHuman ExistenceArcsPain And PleasureDifficult LifeSignificant Moments
Book:Being Mortal: Illness, Medicine and What Matters in the End
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“It is not easy to explain why God permits evil; but it is impossible for an atheist to explain the existence of goodness. How could a spiritless, soul-less, cross-less, Godless universe become the center of faith, purity, sacrifice, and martyrdom? How can decency be the decent thing if there is no God? Since God is love, why should we be surprised that want of it should end in pain, hate, broken hearts, and war?”

IfsWantShouldHeartWarSoulEndsPainHateUniverseEvilEasyExistenceImpossibleSacrificeBrokenGoodnessCrossesAtheistPurityDecentPermitDecencyThere Is No GodMartyrdomGod Is Love
Author:Fulton J. Sheen
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“Sci-Fi is the genre that explored both possibilities: the end of our existential crisis and the end of our existence. My novel, The 5th Wave, explores the latter scenario, because, frankly, I believe it represents the likeliest outcome of an extraterrestrial encounter. In short, if they're out there, we better hope they never find us.”

IfsBelieveEndsI BelieveExistenceNovelPossibilityCrisisWaveGenreOutcomesEncountersLatterSci FiExistentialScenariosExistential CrisisExtraterrestrial5th Wave
Author:Rick Yancey
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“Poverty is a bitter thing; but it is not as bitter as the existence of restless vacuity and physical, moral, and intellectual flabbiness, to which those doom themselves who elect to spend all their years in that vainest of all vain pursuits-the pursuit of mere pleasure as a sufficient end in itself.”

YearsEndsPleasureExistenceMoralPovertyIntellectualMerePursuitBitterVainSufficientRestlessDoomVacuity
Book:Works: The strenuous life
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“[The sceptic] must acknowledge, if he will acknowledge any thing, that all human life must perish, were his principles to prevail.All discourse, all action would immediately cease, and men remain in a total lethargy, till the necessities of nature, unsatisfied, put an end to their miserable existence.”

IfsMenHumansEndsActionExistencePrinciplesCeaseMiserableHuman LifeAcknowledgeSkepticismDiscourseUnsatisfiedLethargySceptic
Book:An inquiry concerning human understanding. A dissertation on the passions. An inquiry concerning the principles of morals. The natural history of religion
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“How is it possible on the one hand, for example, to behave as if nothing on earth were more important than literature, and on the other fail to see that wherever one looks, people are struggling against hunger and will necessarily consider that the most important thing is what they earn at the end of the month? Because this is where he (the writer) is confronted with a new paradox: while all he wanted was to write for those who are hungry, he now discovers that it is only those who have plenty to eat who have the leisure to take notice of his existence.”

PeopleIfsWritingLooksImportantEndsHandsWantedEarthLiteratureExistenceStruggleFailingExampleMonthsImportant ThingsHungerHungryPlentyBehaveParadoxLeisure
Author:Stig Dagerman
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“Rational thinking which is free from assumptions ends therefore in mysticism. To relate oneself in the spirit of reverence for life to the multiform manifestations of the will-to-live which together constitute the world is ethical mysticism. All profound world-view is mysticism, the essence of which is just this: that out of my unsophisticated and naïve existence in the world there comes, as a result of thought about self and the world, spiritual self-devotion to the mysterious infinite Will which is continuously manifested in the universe.”

ThinkingWorldEndsSelfTogetherSpiritualSpiritUniverseResultsViewsExistenceEssenceInfiniteProfoundOneselfDevotionRationalMysteriousRelateManifestationAssumptionMysticismEthicalReverenceRational ThinkingWorld ViewReverence For LifeWill To Live
Author:Albert Schweitzer
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“Some beings will walk with you for the duration of this bodily existence, up to the very end. Some will come with bright promises, bright lights, but they fade quickly. Others come, they don’t look like they will go very far, but they are marathon runners; they’re there with you all the time. You cannot determine this... Somehow in the flow of your own unique river, you will see that everything is as it should be.”

ShouldLooksEndsLightWalksExistencePromiseUniqueFlowRiversDetermineFadesRunnersMarathonDurationMarathon RunnersBright Lights
Author:Mooji
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“The sceptics end in the infidelity which asserts the problem to be insoluble, or in the atheism which denies the existence of any orderly progress and governance of things: the men of genius propound solutions which grow into systems of Theology or of Philosophy, or veiled in musical language which suggests more than it asserts, take the shape of the Poetry of an epoch.”

MenEndsPhilosophyProblemLanguageGrowsExistenceProgressAtheismHe ManGeniusShapesSolutionsMusicalDenyTheologyInfidelityGovernanceOrderlyEpochSceptic
Book:The Major Prose of Thomas Henry Huxley
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“These semi-traitors [Union generals who were not hostile to slavery] must be watched. Let us be careful who become army leaders in the reorganized army at the end of this Rebellion. The man who thinks that the perpetuity of slavery is essential to the existence of the Union, is unfit to be trusted. The deadliest enemy the Union has is slavery - in fact, its only enemy.”

ThinkingMenWarEndsFactsExistenceLeaderEnemyHe ManEssentialsArmySlaveryUnionsCarefulCivil WarRebellionBe CarefulTrustedHostileTraitor
Author:Rutherford B. Hayes
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“Worship is what we were created for. This is the final end of all existence-the worship of God. God created the universe so that it would display the worth of His glory. And He created us so that we would see this glory and reflect it by knowing and loving it-with all our heart and soul and mind and strength. The church needs to build a common vision of what worship is and what she is gathering to do on Sunday morning and scattering to do on Monday morning.”

NeedsMindHeartSoulEndsUniverseChurchCommonExistenceVisionMorningKnowingWorshipGloryFinalsSundayDisplayMondayGatheringHeart And SoulMonday MorningSunday MorningCommon Vision
Author:John Piper
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“Far from affording artists continuous inspiration, mass-media sources for art have become a dead end. They have combined with the abstractness of institutional art teaching to produce a fine-arts culture given over to information and not experience. This faithfully echoes the drain of concreteness from modern existence- the reign of mere unassimilated data instead of events that gain meaning by being absorbed into the fabric of imaginative life.”

ArtEndsInspirationArtistCultureGivenExistenceTeachingModernMediaEventsInformationProduceSourceFineMassGainsMereDataFabricEchoesReignImaginativeDrainsFine ArtsMass MediaDead EndsAffording
Book:The Spectacle of Skill: New and Selected Writings of Robert Hughes
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