The slave is doomed to worship time and fate and death, because they are greater than anything he finds in himself, and because all his thoughts are of things which they devour.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The slave worships time, fate, and death because they dominate his inner world and consume his thoughts.
- In plain terms
- A slave venerates time, fate, and death as they overwhelm his mind.
- What can you take from it?
- Recognize how external forces can dominate inner life.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How can one reclaim mental agency?
- What practices reduce the grip of fate?
Another view
Not all external forces are inherently negative.
More from Bertrand Russell
Freedom comes only to those who no longer ask of life that it shall yield them any of those personal goods that are subject to the mutations of time.
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