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“A voice said, Look me in the stars
And tell me truly, men of earth,
If all the soul-and-body scars
Were not too much to pay for birth.”
―
And tell me truly, men of earth,
If all the soul-and-body scars
Were not too much to pay for birth.”
―
“For the rest of the earth’s organisms, existence is relatively uncomplicated. Their lives are about three things: survival, reproduction, death—and nothing else. But we know too much to content ourselves with surviving, reproducing, dying—and nothing else. We know we are alive and know we will die. We also know we will suffer during our lives before suffering—slowly or quickly—as we draw near to death. This is the knowledge we “enjoy” as the most intelligent organisms to gush from the womb of nature. And being so, we feel shortchanged if there is nothing else for us than to survive, reproduce, and die. We want there to be more to it than that, or to think there is. This is the tragedy: Consciousness has forced us into the paradoxical position of striving to be unself-conscious of what we are—hunks of spoiling flesh on disintegrating bones.”
― The Conspiracy Against the Human Race
― The Conspiracy Against the Human Race
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
―
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“Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you.”
―
―
“How much more suffering is caused by the thought of death than by death itself.”
― The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the World's Greatest Philosophers
― The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the World's Greatest Philosophers
Petr’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Petr’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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