All Quotes By Tag: Post-modernism

“You too, you took an interest in the world. That was long ago. I want you to cast your mind back to then. The domain of the rules was no longer enough for you; you were unable to love any longer in the domain of the rules; so you had to enter into the domain of the struggle. I ask you to go back to that precise moment. It was long ago, no? Cast your mind back: the water was cold. You are far from the edge, now. Oh yes! How far from the edge you are! You long believed in the existence of another shore; such is no longer the case. You go on swimming, though, and every movement you make brings you closer to drowning. You are suffocating, your lungs are on fire. The water seems colder and colder to you, more and more galling. You aren’t that young anymore. Now you are going to die. Don’t worry. I am here. I won’t let you sink. Go on with your reading.”

“Don’t wake me for the end of the world unless it has very good special effects.”

“An open mind, in questions that are not ultimate, is useful. But an open mind about the ultimate foundations either of Theoretical or of Practical Reason is idiocy. If a man’s mind is open on these things, let his mouth at least be shut. He can say nothing to the purpose. Outside the Tao there is no ground for criticizing either the Tao or anything else.”

“هذا الاحترام لــ”حقوق الإنسان” ــ هذا يجعلني حقا أودّ أن أقول، أن أتفوه تقريبا بعباراتٍ بغيضةٍ نوعاً ما. إنه ينتمي كثيرا إلى هذا التفكير الضعيف للفترة الفكرية الخاوية التي ناقشناها من قبل. إنها مُجرَّدةٌ تماما، ما هي “حقوق الإنسان” هذه؟ إنها مُجرَّدةٌ تماما، فارغةٌ تماما. إنها بالضبط مثل ما كنا نقوله من قبل عن الرغبة، ما حاولتُ قوله عن الرغبة: الرغبة لا تتمثل في إقامة موضوع، في القول بأنني أرغبُ في هذا… نحن لا نرغب، مثلا، في الحرية، إلى آخره. هذا صفر. بالأحرى، نحن نرغب… نجد أنفسنا في مواقف. أختار مثال المشكلات المعاصرة في أرمينيا، هذا حديثٌ جدا. ما هو الموقف، لو كنت أفهمُه بشكل صحيح؟ لا يدري المرءُ أبدا، حقا، يمكنك أن تُصحّحيني، لكن هذا لن يُغيِّر كثيرا. هناك معقلٌ في جمهوريةٍ سوفيتية أخرى، هناك معقلٌ أرميني، جمهورية أرمينية، هذا هو الموقف، جانبٌ أولٌ منه. وهناك هذه المذبحة بواسطة نوعٍ من الجماعة التركية…”

“The pre-Socratic Greek philosopher Parmenides taught that the only things that are real are things which never change… and the pre-Socratic Greek philosopher Heraclitus taught that everything changes. If you superimpose their two views, you get this result: Nothing is real.”

“I think of the postmodern attitude as that of a man who loves a very cultivated woman and knows that he cannot say to her “I love you madly”, because he knows that she knows (and that she knows he knows) that these words have already been written by Barbara Cartland. Still there is a solution. He can say “As Barbara Cartland would put it, I love you madly”. At this point, having avoided false innocence, having said clearly it is no longer possible to talk innocently, he will nevertheless say what he wanted to say to the woman: that he loves her in an age of lost innocence.”