#existential

if we possess a why of life we can put up with almost any how. ↗

— Friedrich Nietzsche

#meaning #life

We had to learn ourselves and, furthermore, we had to teach the despairing men, that it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We need to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life—hourly and daily. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answers to its problems and to fulfill the task which it constantly sets for each individual. ↗

— Viktor E. Frankl

#existentialism #holocaust #man-s-search-for-meaning #life

What is life? - A novel. Who is the author? - Anonymous. We read haltingly, laugh, weep... and sleep. Что наша жизнь? - роман. Кто автор? - аноним. Читаем по складам, смеемся, плачем... спим. ↗

— Nikolai Karamzin

#life

Regardless of the staggering dimensions of the world about us, the density of our ignorance, the risks of catastrophes to come, and our individual weakness within the immense collectivity, the fact remains that we are absolutely free today if we choose to will our existence in its finiteness, a finiteness which is open on the infinite. And in fact, any man who has known real loves, real revolts, real desires, and real will knows quite well that he has no need of any outside guarantee to be sure of his goals; their certitude comes from his own drive. ↗

— Simone de Beauvoir

#feminism #philosophy #love

J'ai envie de partir, de m'en aller quelque part où je serais vraiment à ma place, où je m'emboîterais... Mais ma place n'est nulle part; je suis de trop. ↗

— Jean-Paul Sartre

#existentialism #men

I am a clown...and I collect moments. ↗

— Heinrich Böll

#existentialism

The Expulsion from Paradise is eternal in its principal aspect: this makes it irrevocable, and our living in this world inevitable, but the eternal nature of the process has the effect that not only could we remain forever in Paradise, but that we are currently there, whether we know it or not. ↗

— Franz Kafka

#existentialism #forever #heaven #paradise #present

If we are unable to tolerate ourselves when we are alone, how can we expect anyone else to be enriched by our company? Before we can have a solid relationship with another, we must have a relationship with ourselves. We are challenged to learn to listen to ourselves. We have to be able to stand alone before we can truly stand beside another. ↗

— Gerald Corey

#relationship

Perhaps the Creator of this strange place knows us better than we know ourselves. Perhaps humanity was meant to eternally ponder the purpose and importance of our own existence. If we were assured of either, we’d be intolerable creatures. ↗

— Tiffany Madison

#existentialism #god #humanity #knowledge #religion

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

— Rollo May

#myth #contemporary