'The only philosophy which can be responsibly practised in face of despair is the attempt to contemplate all things as they would present themselves from the standpoint of redemption.'
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- In despair, the only responsible philosophy is to view everything from a redemptive perspective.
- In plain terms
- When hopeless, try to see things as redeemable.
- What can you take from it?
- Adopt a hopeful lens even in bleak times.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When does a redemptive view become denial?
- How can redemption be grounded in reality?
Another view
Not everyone finds redemption a useful framework.
More from Theodor Adorno
'The only decent marriage would be one allowing each partner to lead an independent life, in which, instead of a fusion derived from an enforced community of e…
Permalink to quote #104 'The overbearing matter-of-factness which sacrifices the subject to the ascertainment of the truth, rejects at once truth and objectivity.'
Permalink to quote #106 'The new human type cannot be properly understood without awareness of what he is continuously exposed to from the world of things about him, even in his most …
Permalink to quote #103
Related quotes
Something was dead in each of us, And what was dead was Hope.
Oscar WildeOscar Wilde quote #209 Why , alas! is life decreed Full of pain and full of sorrow? All uncertain as it is, Can we rest upon to-morrow? Why should blessings yet in store, Hold us sti…
Elizabeth BathElizabeth Bath quote #2 Hope For Appetite with an opinion of attaining, is called HOPE. Despaire The same, without such opinion, DESPAIRE.
Thomas HobbesThomas Hobbes quote #12