Quotes I Love, A SERIES #1
In this medium post series you’ll find quotes that I've collected over time which really shaped me as a person and also my recurring revisits to them makes me strong, calm and helps me make sense out of this world.
The pattern of this post series will be a quote attached with interpretation of it. Now mind you, the quotes though meant for different purposes literally will be used in uncanny ways to fit my life and find meaning from my POV in some cases.
#1 “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” -Blaise Pascal
In this modern world, time always seems like a constraint, its always less. We use technology to save time; mobiles for communication, fast modern transportation for moving anywhere in the world, big powerful computers for all our complex work, still time never stays with us. Where did all the time has gone when we saved it. Apparently the more ‘global’ and quantitative we went in these last few decades the more less we covered locally and qualitatively . Life has been like an aerial 2D image of world where we really just wanted a 3D image of our town. The problem isn't modernization or globalization its the inability of man to reflect and to sit down as Pascal’s say. We today can say how disturbing the world is with all its distraction but this quote was written in 1600’s . Think about it, a time we today call as medieval and wild and raw, a time when people believed earth was center of universe; so clearly without any doubt globalization and technology isn't the problem its something else, its something related to the core of human nature.
A selection of men have always found harmony in solitude, and believed in the power of mind and subconscious. Another example of it is of Henry David Thoreau who in 1845 went to Walden Pond to ‘live deliberately’, in that book ‘Walden’ you’ll find how he was against reading of news and he was tired of the gossips of 19 century , imagine if Thoreau lived now!
Coming back to the quote, we’ll dive into why man is scared of silence as mentioned in the quote ‘inability to sit quietly’. Silence opens door to thoughts that have been kept in silence by all the noises of the world. Imagine a good thought provoking activity like a stroll which many philosophers like Aristotle and Nietzsche suggested, now imagine it today it will always be accompanied with headphones. We should try just to sit or go for a walk once a week with nothing but our thoughts. There's a lot of difference between overthinking in your bed while using your phone and actually thinking about your thoughts without any distractions. So maybe just try it once in a while at least.
Now I may sound like a cynic but believe me I'm not attacking modernization or social media, this post is covering how to live without them just once a week or a month. To do so we should learn to sit down quietly and dive deep into nothingness, you can call it meditation, a self reflecting journey, a fun detour or just a reboot in this game we call life. You can modify this process by journaling if you like writing or you could just map your existence in your mind; by doing so, first you will really know who you are, what you are made to do and your true aspirations. As Ryan Holiday once said, “Passion is for amateurs” he meant that what we think we really like is just based on its outer glory and not true in sense and the only way to find out is to know yourself. And to know yourself you should talk to yourself give yourself time and sit quietly.
Now coming back to the quote Pascal beautifully inserts the word humanity in the quote and what he means by that is that if one person pursues what he doesnt want or he makes decisions rapidly he just doesnt alter his life but also of his surroundings therefore affecting the wider mass itself, humanity.
Imagine if Hitler knew he didn't really hated the Jews but was just attacked by societal dogma he would have never committed those sins and humanity would have been on different levels now. Therefore this quote also highlights the power of individual and forces us to stay on right track and to be responsible to ourselves and our thoughts as one as one individual can impact humanity altogether.
So when the days are not in my favor and I tend to be unfocussed I read this quote and try to be calm and focused by practicing what it preaches.
