On ne lit plus, on n'a plus le temps. L'esprit est appelé à la fois de trop de côtes; il faut lui parler vite où il passe. Mais il y a des choses qui ne peuvent être dites, ni comprises si vite, et ce sont les plus importantes pour l'homme. Cette accélération de mouvement qui ne permet de rien enchaîner, de rien méditer, suffirait seule pour affaiblir et, à la longue, pour détruire entièrement la raison humaine.
Félicité Robert de Lamennais, 1819.
(Translation: "We have stopped reading, we have not the time. Our mind is solicited simultaneously from too many sides: it has to be spoken to quickly as it passes by. But there are things that cannot be said or understood in such haste, and these are the most important things for man. This accelerated movement, which makes coherent thought impossible, may alone be sufficient to weaken, and in the long run utterly to destroy, human reason.")
2 comments:
we're just bombarded by so much today and in all directions by media. it's tempting to just turn off one's logic and just accept things that are broadcasted at us. it becomes difficult to step back, stand our ground, and use one's own reasoning as rational beings.
What strikes me the most about this thought-provoking quote is the year 1819 in which this was crafted. How apropos nearly two centuries later!
Thank you, Nui, for continuing to blog and share such wonderful insights with the blogosphere. Now that I'm back on the "blogging bandwagon" (just made that up), it's nice to see am still in good company.
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