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Existence Quotes
"Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself."
17
"Myth expresses in terms of the world - that is, of the other world or the second world - the understanding that man has of himself in relation to the foundation and the limit of his existence."
15
"Thus so wretched is man that he would weary even without any cause for weariness... and so frivolous is he that, though full of a thousand reasons for weariness, the least thing, such as playing billiards or hitting a ball, is sufficient enough to amuse him."
15
"Einmal ist keinmal, says Tomas to himself. What happens but once, says the German adage, might as well not have happened at all. If we have only one life to live, we might as well not have lived at all."
15
"We have overcome the notion that mathematical truths have an existence independent and apart from our own minds. It is even strange to us that such a notion could ever have existed."
14
"Existence is a party. You join after its started and you leave before its finished."
14
"Imagine being sentient but not alive. Seeing and even knowing, but not alive. Just looking out. Recognizing but not being alive. A person can die and still go on. Sometimes what looks out at you from a person's eyes maybe died back in childhood."
14
"Whatever is referred to must exist. Let us call this the axiom of existence."
13
"The particular features of the photographic method of detecting atomic particles enabled us to establish the existence of transient forms of matter which had escaped recognition by other methods."
13
"The puma is, with the exception of some monkeys, the most playful animal in existence."
13
"I photograph the things that I do not wish to paint, the things which already have an existence."
13
"Non-thinking is an act of annihilation, a wish to negate existence, an attempt to wipe out reality. But existence exists; reality is not to be wiped out, it will merely wipe out the wiper. By refusing to say 'It is,' you are refusing to say 'I am.' By suspending your judgment, you are negating your person. When a man declares: 'Who am I to know?'- he is declaring: 'Who am I to live?"
13
"As the existence of a corps of professors of mathematics is peculiar to our navy, as well as an apparent, perhaps a real, anomaly, some account of it may be of interest."
12
"Rule A: Don't. Rule A1: Rule A doesn't exist. Rule A2: Do not discuss the existence or non-existence of Rules A, A1 or A2."
12
"To be human is to keep rattling the bars of the cage of existence, hollering, 'What's it for?'"
12
"Whatever things may have been in their origin, they are what they are, both in themselves and in regard to their indications respecting other beings or influences the existence of which may be implied in theirs."
12
"One cannot legislate problems out of existence. It has been tried."
12
"And the existence is tedious, anyway; it is a senseless, dirty business, this life."
12
"The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has been in existence for most of this century."
12
"The greatest moments in our lives occur when we surrender: birth, love, and death."
12
"Medicine, the only profession that labors incessantly to destroy the reason for its existence."
11
"The philosopher proves that the philosopher exists. The poet merely enjoys existence."
11
"To me, human existence exists on a multiple level, not just on a two-dimensional level, not just having to be identified with what you do and what you say."
11
"Everything must justify its existence before the judgment seat of Reason, or give up existence."
11
"Behind me the branches of a wasted and sterile existence are cracking."
11
"Lightness and weightiness are both linked to a philosophy of life. They are choices in life. Heaviness can be the embodiment of a sense of responsibility, the expression of maturity, the result of profound meditation or the emanation of a search for meaning in life. Weightiness, however, may also lead to a feeling of oppression, when it is felt as a burden, an unbearable burden. Then time has come to let loose and things can finally lose their gravity. ['The unbearable heaviness of being']"
11
"Man is a question mark . . . and it is a blessing-celebrate it. It is a blessing because only man is a question mark; no dog is, no tree is. The rose bush is beautiful but not as beautiful as man, and the moon is beautiful but not as beautiful as man-because they are unconscious. Only man is consciously on a quest. And how can you be on a quest if you don't have a question mark in your being?"
11
"Playing a fashion designer could be the bane of my existence because I am married to a fashion designer."
10
"The first and by far the most likely pattern is a return to agrarian existence."
10
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