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Insignificance Quotes

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Insignificance Quotes

“I've been quite fascinated by the relative insignificance of human existence, the shortness of life. We might as well be a letter in a word in a sentence on a page in a book in a library in a city in one country in this enormous universe! And that kind of fear and insignificance has kept me awake at night.”

KnowsFeelsHumansWellsKindBookCountryMightNightUniverseCitiesExistencePagesLettersUniversalLibrarySentencesEnormousAwakeRelativeFascinatedHuman ExistenceInsignificanceAwake At NightShortnessShortness Of Life
Author:Laura Marling
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“You know better than I that in a Republic talent is always suspect. A man attains an elevated position only when his mediocrity prevents him from being a threat to others. And for this reason a democracy is never governed by the most competent, but rather by those whose insignificance will not jeopardize anyone else's self-esteem.”

KnowsMenSelfReasonDemocracyTalentSelf EsteemPositionThreatEsteemSuspectsRepublicMediocrityCompetentInsignificanceJeopardize
Author:Niccolo Machiavelli
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“Literature sort of makes your daily operation, your daily conduct, the management of your affairs in the society a bit more complex. And it puts what you do in perspective, and people don't like to see themselves or their activities in perspective. They don't feel quite comfortable with that. Nobody wants to acknowledge the insignificance of his life, and that is very often the net result of reading a poem.”

PeopleWantFeelsReadingLiteratureBitsResultsPerspectiveActivityComfortableManagementComplexesAffairOperationsAcknowledgeInsignificance
Author:Joseph Brodsky
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“The trails are a reminder of our insignificance. We come and go, but nature is forever. It puts us in our place, underscoring that we are not lords of the universe but components of it...So when the world seems to be falling apart, when we humans seem to be creating messes everywhere we turn, maybe it's time to rejuvenate in the cathedral of the wilderness - and there, away from humanity, rediscover our own humanity.”

WorldHumansSeemsHumanityTurnsFallUniverseLordForeverCreatingMessWildernessFalling ApartTrailsComponentsRemindersComes And GoesCathedralsInsignificance
Author:Nicholas D. Kristof
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“Ivy [Wilkes] does exhibit a certain impatience at the beginning of the book [The Dissemblers]. She doesn't want to wait through years of hard work and insignificance to make her mark on the art world. Part of her growth is in realizing - even embracing - that the process of art is more important than the product or the recognition.”

WorldWantYearsDoeArtImportantBookHardCertainWaitingProcessGrowthRealizingProductsHard WorkArt IsMarkRecognitionImpatienceExhibitsIvyArt WorldThrough The YearsInsignificance
Author:Liza Campbell
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“The Last Arrow transcends a moment or an issue. It is a call to move beyond self-indulgence to a life of sacrificial service. In The Last Arrow I address a broad spectrum of issues from the Syrian refugee crisis to the cultural epidemic of depression to the personal struggle of insignificance. The Last Arrow is a clarion call to make a difference in the world rather than a self-help book for personal self-improvement.”

WorldBookMomentsMovingStruggleCrisisMaking A DifferenceRefugeeInsignificance
Author:Erwin McManus
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“People get cranky when you burst their bubble. Over time, advances in astronomy have relentlessly reinforced the utter insignificance of Earth on a celestial scale. Fortunately, political and religious leaders stopped barbecuing astronomers for saying so, turning their spits with human-rights activists instead.”

PeopleHumansEarthPoliticalReligiousLeaderRightsHuman RightsAstronomyScalesActivistBubblesSpitCelestialAstronomersInsignificanceReligious LeadersCranky
Author:Nathan Myhrvold
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“We are biological creatures. We are born, we live, we die. There is no transcendent purpose to existence. At best we are creatures of reason, and by using reason we can cure ourselves of emotional excess. Purged of both hope and fear, we find courage in the face of helplessness, insignificance and uncertainty.”

ReasonFacesPurposeDiesBornExistenceEmotionalCreaturesCuresUncertaintyExcessHelplessnessTranscendentInsignificanceHopes And Fears
Author:Jonathan Sacks
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“To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget.”

LifeTryingLooksUsedJoySimpleForgetWatchesViolenceInspirational LifeMoralitySadRespectRomanticComplicatedPursueNever ForgetInspirational LoveLost LoveRomantic LoveVulgarSimplifyMy Own LifeSaddestUnspeakableVulgarityDisparityInsignificanceBeing Joyful
Book:The Algebra of Infinite Justice
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“...boredom speaks the language of time, and it is to teach you the most valuable lesson in your life--...the lesson of your utter insignificance. It is valuable to you, as well as to those you are to rub shoulders with. 'You are finite,' time tells you in a voice of boredom, 'and whatever you do is, from my point of view, futile.' As music to your ears, this, of course, may not count; yet the sense of futility, of limited significance even of your best, most ardent actions is better than the illusion of their consequence and the attendant self-satisfaction.”

WellsMaySelfActionCoursesSpeakLanguageVoiceViewsTeachLessonsIllusionConsequenceEarsSatisfactionValuablePoint Of ViewShouldersBoredomSignificanceFiniteFutilityArdentInsignificanceSelf-satisfactionValuable Lessons
Author:Joseph Brodsky
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“Why do you love the woman you're in love with? Because she is. And that, after all, is God's own definition of Himself; I am that I am. The girl is who she is. Some of her isness spills over and impregnates the entire universe. Objects and events cease to be mere representations of classes and become their own uniqueness; cease to be illustrations of verbal abstractions and become fully concrete. Then you stop being in love, and the universe collapses, with an almost audible squeak of derision, into its normal insignificance.”

GirlUniverseClassEventsObjectsNormalMereDefinitionsCeaseConcreteCollapseUniquenessRepresentationAbstractionBeing In LoveSpillsIllustrationInsignificanceDerision
Author:Aldous Huxley
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“If I've learned anything in twenty-nine years, it's that every human being you see in the course of a day has a problem that's sucking up at least 70 percent of his or her radar. My gift - bad choice of words - is that I can look at you, him, her, them, whoever, and tell right away what is keeping them awake at night: money; feelings of insignificance; overwhelming boredom; evil children; job troubles; or perhaps death, in one of its many costumes, perched in the wings. What surprises me about humanity is that in the end such a narrow range of plights defines our moral lives.”

IfsYearsHumansLooksChildrenI CanEndsFeelingsProblemJobsNightHumanityChoicesCoursesEvilHuman BeingsMoralTroublePercentTwentiesWingsSurpriseNineRangeAwakeBoredomI've LearnedOverwhelmingCostumesRadarNine YearsSurprise MePlightInsignificanceBad ChoicesAwake At NightMoral Life
Author:Douglas Coupland
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“As is so often the case with a legend, every incident has two possible interpretations, the plausible and the one that is molded to suit the making of the myth. Man is a romantic at heart and will always put aside dull, plodding reason for the excitement of an enigma. As Doc had pointed out, mystery, not logic, is what gives us hope and keeps us believing in a force greater than our own insignificance.”

MenGivingBelieveHeartTwoReasonForceCasesGreaterMysteryLogicMythSuitsExcitementDullInterpretationLegendsIncidentsPlausibleEnigmaInsignificance
Author:Bryce Courtenay
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“There's so much humanity in a love of trees, so much nostalgia for our first sense of wonder, so much power in just feeling our own insignificance when we are surrounded by nature...yes, that's it: just thinking about trees and their indifferent majesty and our love for them teaches us how ridiculous we are - vile parasites squirming on the surface of the earth - and at the same time how deserving of life we can be, when we can honor this beauty that owes us nothing.”

ThinkingFirstsFeelingsEarthHumanityWonderTeachTreeHonorSurfaceNostalgiaRidiculousIndifferentOur LoveMajestyDeservingParasitesSense Of WonderInsignificance
Author:Muriel Barbery
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“From a long view of the history of mankind, seen from, say, ten thousand years from now, there can be little doubt that the most significant event of the 19th century will be judged as Maxwell's discovery of the laws of electrodynamics. The American Civil War will pale into provincial insignificance in comparison with this important scientific event of the same decade.”

YearsLittlesLongImportantWarLawViewsDoubtMankindCenturyEventsThousandTenDiscoveryDecadesSignificantCivil WarComparisonJudgedPaleThousand Years19th CenturyAmerican Civil WarInsignificanceMaxwellSignificant Events
Book:The Quotable Feynman
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“We are not grand because we are at the top of the food chain or because we can alter our environment - the environment will outlast us with its unfathomable forces and unyielding powers. But rather than be bound and defeated by our insignificance, we are bold because we exercise our will anyway, despite the ephemeral and delicate presence we have in this desert, on this planet, in this universe.”

UniverseForceEnvironmentPlanetsExerciseBoundsDespiteChainsDesertDelicateDefeatedOur EnvironmentEphemeralUnfathomableInsignificanceFood ChainUnyielding
Book:127 Hours: Between a Rock and a Hard Place
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“How important can it be that I suffer and think? My presence in this world will disturb a few tranquil lives and will unsettle the unconscious and pleasant naiveté of others. Although I feel that my tragedy is the greatest in history - greater than the fall of empires - I am nevertheless aware of my total insignificance. I am absolutely persuaded that I am nothing in this universe; yet I feel that mine is the only real existence.”

ThinkingWorldFeelsImportantRealSufferingFallUniverseExistenceGreaterThis WorldMinesTragedyPleasantUnconsciousEmpiresNeverthelessTranquilInsignificance
Author:Emile M. Cioran
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“Failure is easy to measure. Failure is an event.Harder to measure is insignificance. A nonevent. Insignificance creeps, it dawns, it gives you hope, then delusion, then one day, when you’re not looking, it’s there, at your front door, on your desk, in the mirror, or not, not any of that, it’s the lack of all that. One day, when you are looking, it’s not looking, no one is. You lie in your bed and realize that if you don’t get out of bed and into the world today, it is very likely no one will even notice.”

IfsWorldGivingTodayLyingEasyRealizingDoorsFrontsEventsOne DayBedHarderMirrorsDawnDelusionDesksCreepsWorld TodayFront DoorsInsignificance
Author:Charles Yu
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“Men love liberty because it protects them from control and humiliation by others, thus affording them the possibility of dignity; they loathe liberty because it throws them back on their own abilities and resources, thus confronting them with the possibility of insignificance.”

MenAbilityLibertyPossibilityProtectResourcesDignityLibertarianLibertarianismHumiliationConfrontingLoatheInsignificanceAffording
Book:Words to the Wise: A Medical-Philosophical Dictionary
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