#philosophy

as soon as we renounce fiction and illusion, we lose reality itself; the moment we subtract fictions from reality, reality itself loses its discursive-logical consistency. ↗

— Slavoj Žižek

#fiction #ideology #imaginary #philosophy #real

A person who has not been completely alienated, who has remained sensitive and able to feel, who has not lost the sense of dignity, who is not yet "for sale", who can still suffer over the suffering of others, who has not acquired fully the having mode of existence - briefly, a person who has remained a person and not become a thing - cannot help feeling lonely, powerless, isolated in present-day society. He cannot help doubting himself and his own convictions, if not his sanity. He cannot help suffering, even though he can experience moments of joy and clarity that are absent in the life of his "normal" contemporaries. Not rarely will he suffer from neurosis that results from the situation of a sane man living in an insane society, rather than that of the more conventional neurosis of a sick man trying to adapt himself to a sick society. In the process of going further in his analysis, i.e. of growing to greater independence and productivity,his neurotic symptoms will cure themselves. ↗

— Erich Fromm

#philosophy #psychoanalysis #psychology #experience

As soon as you have made a thought, laugh at it. ↗

— Lao Tzu

#eastern-philosophy #philosophy #comedy

When you forget what you ultimately stand for, you rejoice in blinding ignorance. Missing the bigger picture for the near pleasure is what humans and all living beings stand for. I guess there is no alternate way either. Because it is after all a game that all are destined to play until they end up dead. ↗

— Rakesh Ranjan

#dreams #life #love #mystery #philosophy

Is there any knowledge in the world which is so certain that no reasonable man could doubt it? ↗

— Bertrand Russell

#philosophy #first-sentence

But the goal of the arts, culinary or otherwise, is not to increase our comfort. That is the goal of an easy chair. ↗

— Jeffrey Steingarten

#humor #philosophy #art

A prison becomes a home when you have the key. ↗

— George Sterling

#conformity #philosophy #prison

For underlying all philosophies and all religions are the facts of the human soul, which may ultimately be the arbiters of truth and error. ↗

— C.G. Jung

#dreams

When another blames you or hates you, or people voice similar criticisms, go to their souls, penetrate inside and see what sort of people they are. You will realize that there is no need to be racked with anxiety that they should hold any particular opinion about you. ↗

— Marcus Aurelius

#philosophy #criticism

Perhaps what I am about to say will appear strange to you gentlemen, socialists, progressives, humanitarians as you are, but I never worry about my neighbor, I never try to protect society which does not protect me -- indeed, I might add, which generally takes no heed of me except to do me harm -- and, since I hold them low in my esteem and remain neutral towards them, I believe that society and my neighbor are in my debt. ↗

— Alexandre Dumas

#philosophy #selfishness #progress