After all human beings have to live dogs too so as not to know that time is passing, that is the whole business of living to go on so they will not know that time is passing, that is why they get drunk that is why they like to go to war, during a war there is the most complete absence of the sense that time is passing a year of war lasts so much longer than any other year. After all that is what life is and that is the reason there is no Utopia, little or big young or old dog or man everybody wants every minute so filled that they are not conscious of that minute passing. It's just as well they do not think about it you have to be a genius to live in it and know it to exist in it and express it to accept it and deny it by creating it. ~ Ch. 4
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Stein suggests that people fill their time with activity to avoid confronting the passage of time and mortality. She notes that this avoidance explains why life lacks a perfect utopia.
- In plain terms
- People stay busy to ignore that time is passing.
- What can you take from it?
- Avoiding the awareness of time leads to constant activity.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Are you living or just passing time?
- How do you handle mortality?
Another view
Some distractions may be necessary for mental health.
More from Gertrude Stein
Alice Toklas' father had almost once had an oil well they dug and dug but naturally the oil did not gush, naturally not these things never do happen to any one…
Permalink to quote #81 They wanted to know how I succeeded in getting so much publicity, I said by having a small audience, I said if you have a big audience you have no publicity, t…
Permalink to quote #83 Since it could be done what was the use of doing it, and anyway you always have to stop doing something sometime. ~ Ch. 4
Permalink to quote #80
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