#renunciation

It is a ridiculous thing for a man not to fly from his own badness, which is indeed possible, but to fly from other men's badness, which is impossible. ↗

— Marcus Aurelius

#ethics #evil #morality #renunciation #stoic

Actually, the substitution of the reality-principle for the pleasure-principle denotes no dethronement of the pleasure-principle, but only a safeguarding of it. A momentary pleasure, uncertain in its results, is given up, but only in order to gain in the new way an assured pleasure coming later. But the end psychic impression made by this substitution has been so powerful that it is mirrored in a special religious myth. The doctrine of reward in a future life for the—voluntary or enforced—renunciation of earthly lusts is nothing but a mythical projection of this revolution in the mind. In logical pursuit of this prototype, religions have been able to effect the absolute renunciation of pleasure in this life by means of the promise of compensation in a future life; they have not, however, achieved a conquest of the pleasure-principle this way. It is science which comes nearest to succeeding in this conquest; science, however, also offers intellectual pleasure during its work and promises practical gain at the end. ↗

— Sigmund Freud

#delayed-gratification #religion #renunciation #science #religion

Industry, technology, and commerce can thrive only as long as an idealistic national community offers the necessary preconditions. And these do not lie in material egoism, but in a spirit of sacrifice and joyful renunciation. ↗

— Adolf Hitler

#principle #renunciation #sacrifice #spirit #thriving

To write is to become disinterested. There is a certain renunciation in art. ↗

— Anthony Burgess

#become #certain #disinterested #renunciation #write

Renunciation - that is the great fact we all, individuals and classes, have to learn. In trying to avoid it we bring misery to ourselves and others. ↗

— Beatrice Webb

#bring #classes #fact #great #individuals

In Japan itself there have all along been attempts by some to obliterate the article about renunciation of war from the Constitution and for this purpose they have taken every opportunity to make use of pressures from abroad. ↗

— Kenzaburo Oe

#abroad #along #article #attempts #been

God isn't interested in watching you enact some performance of personality in order to comply with some crackpot notion you have about how a spiritual person looks or behaves. We all seem to get this idea that, in order to be sacred, we have to make some massive, dramatic change of character, that we have to renounce our individuality. ↗

— Elizabeth Gilbert

#change

We can never judge the lives of others, because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation. ↗

— Paulo Coelho

#life #pain #renunciation #life

A self-respecting nation is ready for anything, including war, except for a renunciation of its option to make war. ↗

— Simone Weil

#except #including #make #nation #option

I found myself facing a Christian Science Reading Room. My God! It had been eight years. There had never been any renunciation of religion on my part, but like so many people, it was a gradual fading away. ↗

— Henry Fonda

#away #been #christian #eight #facing