51. "The myth represents as outward that which occurred inwardly."- ibid., Soren Kierkegaard, The Concept of Dread
I don’t recall the context of this observation. Yet I think that Kierkegaard is on to something, explaining the universal appeal of the myth, connecting it with universal themes in the human psyche. It is for this reason that Torah study continues to be so deeply intriguing. Technology has changed dramatically. Human nature, our joys and fears, our hurts and visions, are surprisingly the same. If mythology captures those enduring themes, it explains the timeless appeal of the genre.
When Epimetheus had furnished men with all sorts of gifts, he asked Zeus whether he should now distribute the capacity to choose between good and evil the same way he had distributed the other gifts, so that one might get this capacity just as another got the gift of eloquence, another the gift of poetry, another the gift of art. But Zeus replied that this capacity should be distributed as a whole to all, because to every man alike it belonged essentially."- ibid., Soren Kierkegaard, The Concept of Dread
Per the previous quote, Kierkegaard is clearly exploring mythology and now a particular myth. It is unarguably true that we are each born with different talents and aptitudes. We are born with and then develop our own spiritual curricula. Order comes to one person more readily than patience. Kindness is innate and generosity more challenging.
I think that Zeus is misguided about human nature, though. Sadly, “the capacity to choose between good and evil” does not “belong essentially” to every person. Clearly there are sociopathic and psychopathic personalites who do not have the same capability to choose the good.
A sad reality of life.
"The demonstration of God's existence is something one may occasionally be engaged in, learnedly and metaphysically, but the thought of God would intrude on every occasion."- ibid., Soren Kierkegaard, The Concept of Dread
Now here’s a quote I can get behind. There are some lucky individuals whose faith is strong and deep and unquestioned. I think they are few and far between.
What a blessing to feel such a sense of connection to God that it overpowers one’s thinking and one’s questioning. In reality, a rare phenomenon.
More so, I connect with the Hebrew phrase, “k’v’yachol,” meaning, “as if it were.” In my own experience, thinking about God, concepts of God, philosophical explorations of God, is one thing.
Then there are moments of prayer, which fall under the category of “k’v’yachol.” A suspension of disbelief and an immersion into the words that express that connection without being filtered by the intellect.
For me that works best, not being blessed with the kind of effortless faith Kierkegaard describes.
"Man is a peculiar animal who can read the writing on the wall only when his back is up against it."- Adlai Stevenson
Ain’t that the truth! We SO want to see the world through the lens of our own perspective, that sometimes the truth has to hit us upside the head, utterly undeniable, before we can recognize it.
"Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."- anonymous
It is all too easy to get stalled. Whatever the tasks set before us, the challenges we have chosen, we have to keep moving, keep learning, keep growing, or we’ll be lucky if we just sit there. “Use it or lose”- if we’re not moving forward, at some point we may find ourselves moving backward.
"Imagine two children playing hide-and-seek; one hides but the other does not look for him. God is hiding and man is not seeking imagine His distress."- Baruch of Medzebozh
What a sweet thought from the 17th century grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of the Chassidic movement. Baruch captures the God-obsessed world in which he was raised, and encourages us to continue to seek to connect with God, even when it is challenging.
"Somebody once asked Gandhi what he thought of Western civilization. "It would be a good idea," he replied."
I wonder if this is a real quote and when Gandhi might have expressed this thought? A one minute search on Google suggests that, alas, it is likely apocryphal.
That does not take away from its charm, however. Indian civilization is ancient and its spirit deep. It also gave us the abhorrent caste system.
Most every civilization has something to offer and something to learn. I’d like to think that Gandhi found something worthwhile in Western civilization.
"So here we are, all of us, poor bewildered darlings, wandering adrift in a universe too big and too complex for us, clasping and ricocheting off other people too different and too perplexing for us, and seeking to satisfy myriad, shifting, vague needs and desires, both mean and exalted. And sometimes we mesh. Don't we?"- James Flynn
The essence of this quote is its final question- “Don’t we?” Flynn captures the sense of overwhelm and loneliness that can haunt human life. He postulates that we have each other as a necessary antidote to these challenges.
He keenly expresses the hope and reassurance that we can lean on the support of others. But then he pulls the rug right out from under us by questioning his own answer, leaving us to speculate that there is nothing to redeem us from the complexity in which we exist.
I’m going with the “sometimes we mesh”- yes!
"When I speak the thought or meaning is the essence, the word the phenomenon. These two moments are absolutely necessary, and it is in this sense that Plato has remarked that all thinking is a dialogue."- Soren Kierkegaard, The Concept of Irony
Why did Plato say this? Why did Kierkegaard quote it? Why did I quote Kierkegaard quoting Plato?
I don’t know.
“All thinking is dialogue.” So I guess if nothing else this quote validates talking to oneself.
"Give to us what is good, King Zeus,
Whether we pray for it or not;
Even when we pray for it, do thou
avert us from the evil."
Like the classic story- God answers prayer; sometimes the answer is no. Not sure where I found it since it is unattributed.
One of my favorite Jewish prayers for announcing the coming new moon/beginning of the new month. In it we pray that God fulfill all the desires of our hearts “for good.”
Sometimes we don’t know what is best for us.
Garth Brooks put it this way- “Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers.”
About this series-
I love words. I love when a word exactly captures the moment, the feeling. How it precisely describes something that you experienced but didn’t know exactly how to express. It’s like a warm bath or a deeply satisfying meal.
And beyond that- a collection of words. A deeply insightful phrase, thought-provoking and uplifting. A quote to remember.
I started collecting quotes when I was 16 years old. (1972) I’m 68 now, as I write these words, (2025), and there are 472 quotes in my collection. At this precise moment.
That’s not really that many over the course of 52 years. I guess I am fairly discriminating. Sometimes years can go by and the collection lays dormant. In other years there is a great harvest of quotes.
These are not necessarily famous quotes, things you’ll often hear referenced. For the most part, they simply represent words that I read that made me stop for a moment to meditate and bask in their impact. And quotes I enjoy reading and re-reading and quoting myself!
These quotes represent the evolution of my thinking over the course of 52 years. I look forward to pondering what it is that made me find each one meaningful enough to save.
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