#philosophy

William James describes a man who got the experience from laughing-gas; whenever he was under its influence, he knew the secret of the universe, but when he came to, he had forgotten it. At last, with immense effort, he wrote down the secret before the vision had faded. When completely recovered, he rushed to see what he had written. It was: "A smell of petroleum prevails throughout. ↗

— Bertrand Russell

#science #experience

Whatever their future, at the dawn of their lives, men seek a noble vision of man's nature and of life's potential. ↗

— Ayn Rand

#philosophy #life

Kitalah planet yang hidup itu, Sophie! Kitalah kapal besar yang berlayar mengelilingi matahari yang membakar alam raya. Tapi kita masing-masing adalah juga sebuah kapal bermuatan gen-gen yang melayari kehidupan. Jika kita sudah membawa muatan ini dengan selamat ke pelabuhan berikut --berarti hidup kita tidak sia-sia. ↗

— Jostein Gaarder

#dunia-sophie #inspirational #life #philosophy #inspirational

The May sunshine makes both the trolls and the elves disappear, he thought. They burst like soap bubbles. Only human beings remain, for a little while. We are a brief song beneath the sky, laughter in the wind that ends in a sigh. Then we too are gone. ↗

— Johan Theorin

#life

... the river is everywhere at once, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the rapids, in the sea, in the mountains, everywhere at once, and that there is only the present time for it, not the shadow of the past, not the shadow of the future. ↗

— Hermann Hesse

#time #life

Maybe we should always start everything from the inside and work to the outside, and not from the outside to the inside. What d'you think? ↗

— Aidan Chambers

#philosophy #questions #life

Success can bring you happiness, finding happiness is success ↗

— Benny Bellamacina

#life #love #philosophy #wisdom #family

It is a strange fancy to suppose that science can bring reason to an irrational world, when all it can ever do is give another twist to a normal madness. ↗

— John Gray

#science

What you seek you shall never find. For when the Gods made man, They kept immortality to themselves. Fill your belly. Day and night make merry. Let Days be full of joy. Love the child who holds your hand. Let your wife delight in your embrace. For these alone are the concerns of man. ↗

— The Epic of Gilgamesh

#immortality #life-philosophy #life

Yet I'm sure there's something more to be read in a man. People dare not -- they dare not turn the page. The laws of mimicry -- I call them the laws of fear. People are afraid to find themselves alone, and don't find themselves at all. I hate this moral agoraphobia -- it's the worst kind of cowardice. You can't create something without being alone. But who's trying to create here? What seems different in yourself: that's the one rare thing you possess, the one thing which gives each of us his worth; and that's just what we try to suppress. We imitate. And we claim to love life. ↗

— André Gide

#philosophy #life