Merab Konstantinovich Mamardashvili. 1930 – 1990. An outstanding Soviet philosopher.
Quotes:
1. The human is an effort to be human.
2. Never be afraid of going too far because the truth is even further.
3. The main passion of a person is to be, to realize, to succeed.
4. A man is urbane if he is able to practice the complexity and diversity of life, and it is not necessary to know everything, nor is it necessary to be able to apply an abstract idea or concept to reality.
5. Intelligence is what we think, and foolishness is what is thought inside us behind the scenes. Foolishness manifests itself, while for intelligence to manifest itself, one must try very hard.
6. The past is the worst thing we have. And the biggest problem is what to do with it.
7. One of my experiences (which maybe led me to get involved in philosophy) was precisely this experience – the totally incomprehensible, dumbfounding blindness of people to what lies before them.
8. Obviously, it is not by chance that the sieve of history is designed so it rejects a lot but retains what must be retained. Everything forgettable must be forgotten and memorable must be remembered. Nothing is lost…
9. Freedom is not a worldly object but something acting inside us as if it were independent of us. For the philosopher, freedom is not the choice between opportunities or the evaluation of options, rather freedom is something inside us that does not depend on us.
10. Hope prevents us from getting excessively emotional about the present, carrying us into the tomorrow, toward the future.
