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Each religion is a brave guess at the authorship of Hamlet. Yet, as far as the play goes does it make any difference whether Shakespeare or Bacon wrote it? Would it make any difference to the actors if their parts happened out of nothingness, if they found themselves acting on the stage because of some gross and unpardonable accident? Would it make any difference if the playwright gave them the lines or whether they composed them themselves, so long as the lines were properly spoken? Would it make any difference to the characters if A Midsummer Night's Dream was really a dream?

Lewis Mumford#38

LifeMeaningActionReligionTruth

About this quote

What does it mean?
Religions guess at divine authorship, but it matters less than living the lines well.
In plain terms
It does not matter who wrote the script if you act it well.
What can you take from it?
Focus on living well rather than debating origins.

Where it applies

  • spiritual practice
  • ethical living
  • philosophy

Putting it to work

  • focus on actions
  • live intentionally

Questions to consider

  • Does origin matter if the act is good?
  • How do you live your script?

Another view

Origins might still hold deep personal significance.

More from Lewis Mumford

  1. The relation between psyche and soma, mind and brain, are peculiarly intimate; but, as in marriage, the partners are not inseparable: indeed their divorce was …

    Permalink to quote #37
  2. There is no necessary connection between the important events of a life and the records of it that have been preserved in memory, in documents, in memorials, o…

    Permalink to quote #39
  3. Whereas Freud was for the most part concerned with the morbid effects of unconscious repression, Jung was more interested in the manifestations of unconscious …

    Permalink to quote #36

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