---
title: "1 Maelstrom Quotes By Thomas Nagel"
description: "1 Maelstrom quotes by Thomas Nagel. Plus more from Thomas Nagel and more Maelstrom sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/652/thomas-nagel-9440_civilized_the-point-is-to-live-one-s-life-in-the-f_2508989.jpg"
---

> [The point is... to live one's life in the full complexity of what one is, which is something much darker, more contradictory, more of a maelstrom of impulses and passions, of cruelty, ecstacy, and madness, than is apparent to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-nagel/the-point-is-to-live-one-s-life-in-the-full-complexity-of-what-one-is/)

[Thomas Nagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-nagel/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/652/thomas-nagel-9440_civilized_the-point-is-to-live-one-s-life-in-the-f_2508989.jpg)

## More by Thomas Nagel

> [every subjective phenomenon is essentially connected with a single point of view, and it seems inevitable that an objective, physical theory will abandon that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-nagel/every-subjective-phenomenon-is-essentially-connected-with-a-single/)

[Thomas Nagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-nagel/)

> [Reason is universal because no attempted challenge to its results can avoid appealing to reason in the end-by claiming, for example, that what was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-nagel/reason-is-universal-because-no-attempted-challenge-to-its-results-can/)

[Thomas Nagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-nagel/)

> [“A comprehensively reductive conception is favored by the belief that the propensity for the development of organisms with a subjective view must have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-nagel/a-comprehensively-reductive-conception-is-favored-by-the-belief-that/)

[Thomas Nagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-nagel/)

> [A theory of motivation is defective if it renders intelligible behaviour which is not intelligible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-nagel/a-theory-of-motivation-is-defective-if-it-renders-intelligible/)

[Thomas Nagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-nagel/)

> [It isn't just that I don't believe in God, and naturally, hope there is no God. I don't want there to be a God;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-nagel/it-isn-t-just-that-i-don-t-believe-in-god-and-naturally-hope-there-is/)

[Thomas Nagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-nagel/)

> [What is it like to be a bat? What is it like for a bat to be a bat?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-nagel/what-is-it-like-to-be-a-bat-what-is-it-like-for-a-bat-to-be-a-bat/)

[Thomas Nagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-nagel/)

> [To look for a single general theory of how to decide the right thing to do is like looking for a single theory of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-nagel/to-look-for-a-single-general-theory-of-how-to-decide-the-right-thing/)

[Thomas Nagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-nagel/)

> [“In speaking of the fear of religion, I don’t mean to refer to the entirely reasonable hostility toward certain established religions and religious institutions,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-nagel/in-speaking-of-the-fear-of-religion-i-don-t-mean-to-refer-to-the/)

[Thomas Nagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-nagel/)

> [Philosophy is the childhood of the intellect, and a culture that tries to skip it will never grow up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-nagel/philosophy-is-the-childhood-of-the-intellect-and-a-culture-that-tries/)

[Thomas Nagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-nagel/)

> [Common sense doesn't have the last word in ethics or anywhere else, but it has, as J. L. Austin said about ordinary language, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-nagel/common-sense-doesn-t-have-the-last-word-in-ethics-or-anywhere-else/)

[Thomas Nagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-nagel/)

> [“I am drawn to a fourth alternative, natural teleology, or teleological bias, as an account of the existence of the biological possibilities on which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-nagel/i-am-drawn-to-a-fourth-alternative-natural-teleology-or-teleological/)

[Thomas Nagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-nagel/)

> [“The existence of consciousness is both one of the most familiar and one of the most astounding things about the world. No conception of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-nagel/the-existence-of-consciousness-is-both-one-of-the-most-familiar-and/)

[Thomas Nagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-nagel/)

> [“Are there any alternatives? Well, there is the hypothesis that this universe is not unique, but that all possible universes exist, and we find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-nagel/are-there-any-alternatives-well-there-is-the-hypothesis-that-this/)

[Thomas Nagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-nagel/)

> [If we tried to rely entirely on reason, and pressed it hard, our lives and beliefs would collapse - a form of madness that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-nagel/if-we-tried-to-rely-entirely-on-reason-and-pressed-it-hard-our-lives/)

[Thomas Nagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-nagel/)

> [Eventually, I believe, current attempts to understand the mind by analogy with man-made computers that can perform superbly some of the same external tasks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-nagel/eventually-i-believe-current-attempts-to-understand-the-mind-by/)

[Thomas Nagel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-nagel/)

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