Quote by Bertrand Russell
How, in such an alien and inhuman world, can so powerless a creature as man preserve his aspirations untarnished? A strange mystery it is that nature, omnipotent but blind, in the revolutions of her secular hurryings through the abysses of space, has brought forth at last a child, subject still to her power, but gifted with sight, with knowledge of good and evil, with the capacity of judging all the works of his unthinking mother. In spite of death, the mark and seal of the parental control, man is yet free, during his brief years, to examine, to criticize, to know, and in imagination to create. To him alone, in the world with which he is aquainted, this freedom belongs; and in this lies his superiority to the resistless forces that control his outward life.
Summary
This quote contemplates the paradoxical nature of human existence. Despite being insignificant and vulnerable in a vast, indifferent universe, humans possess the unique ability to possess aspirations and maintain them untarnished. It underscores the mysterious contradiction that unfathomable nature, despite being all-powerful, has engendered a being capable of perceiving and discerning good from evil. Although subject to the dominion of nature and ultimately to death, humans possess the freedom to examine, criticize, acquire knowledge, and create through their imagination. This freedom grants humans a superiority over the uncontrollable forces that shape their external lives, marking their distinctive place in the world.
Topics
Philosophy
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