BrainyQuote 11/22 protocol entry
Simon Bouvier Quotes:
“The end justifies the means only if it remains present, if it is completely disclosed in the course of the present enterprise.”
Never lose sight of your end goal, or you may find that the way you are moving towards your goal is contradictory to the goal itself. Look no further than Martin Luther King for an example of this concept. King called his people to protest peacefully with the goal of achieving peace and equality. On the other hand, many of his allies such as Malcom X, believed they could reach the end goal using violence.
“Existence must be asserted in the present if one does not want all life to be defined as an escape toward nothingness.”
What is certain in life is the present moment. We must not get too wrapped up in our future goals or past failures. The past and future are nothing since they can never actually be experienced. By living in the present moment, we give ourselves the best change to create the future we desire. If we spend time wondering where you will be in 5 years, then the odds are we will be in the same place we are now.
“In telling a story, in depicting it, one makes it exist in its particularity with its beginning and its end, its glory or its shame; and this is the way it actually must be lived. In the festival, in art, men express their need to feel that they exist absolutely.”
Humans live in constant conflict with the present moment. We desperately cling to past moments and overthink future ones. The recounting of stories and the creation of art are our most effective ways of escaping the present moment. This escape of the present moment will always be temporary because we do not exist absolutely, we exist in a transitory reality.
“…that every living movement is a sliding toward death. But if they are willing to look it in the face they also discover that every movement toward death is life.”
Are you the kind of person who looks at the glass as half empty or half full? Our existence can be seen as a journey towards death, or as an abundance of life. If we are living in the present moment life feels long. But if we look forward in time too often, we see life as a journey towards death and discount all the joys of the present moment.
“…the present must die so that it may live…”
Time acts in mysterious ways. As soon as a moment arises, it’s just as quickly gone. The present is constantly dying so that time can be reborn as the next moment. If the present is to stay alive then the next moment cannot exist. It is our job as humans to let time shed its old snakeskin as quickly as it may like.
“The tasks we have set up for ourselves and which, though exceeding the limits of our lives, are ours, must find their meaning in themselves and not in a mythical Historical end.”
Life is all about the journey, not the destination. A plan is only worthwhile if that plan allows you to be content in the present moment. Are the tasks required of this plan consistent with the goal, or actionable in the present? If not, then your goal is denying the present moment and may never be fulfilled.
“But we also think that what distinguishes the tyrant from the man of good will is that the first rests in the certainty of his aims, whereas the second keeps asking himself, “Am I really working for the liberation of men?”"
Two different people with the same goal will differ in their ability to stay true to their ‘ends’ while also carefully considering how ethical the ‘means’ are in getting there. A good leader is one that constantly questions their own actions. We must always hold ourselves accountable, and not allow the end goal to cloud our present judgement.
“Ethics does not furnish recipes any more than do science and art. One can merely propose methods.”
You could never ask an artist for a sure recipe on how to create a masterpiece, just as a scientist could never tell you how to conceive a revolutionary theory. Such disciplines rely on constant experimentation. Ethics must be experimented with too; there is no golden rule to be followed. We all must find what we believe is our best ethical self. Just as you wouldn’t wish to copy another’s art, you should never copy another’s understanding of ethics.
“The movement toward freedom assumes it's real, flesh and blood figure in the world by thickening into pleasure, into happiness.”
Freedom is the ability to enjoy the present moment. It’s the choice to extract happiness and pleasure for any, and all, moments. You don’t need an especially pleasant moment to be free, you just need a positive attitude which can be applied at any moment in time. Freedom is about learning to embrace rather than resist time.
“… one of the concrete consequences of existentialist ethics is the rejection of all the previous justifications which might be drawn from the civilization…”
We can never take the conclusions of the past as fact. This is because we can never truly believe in something we have not confirmed in our own existential experience. Ethics and values must be developed to maintain any true meaning. If we adopt the ethics of another, we are likely to question them, being left with no ethics at all.
