Eternal life Quote by Aldous Huxley
““Neither agreeable nor disagreeable," I answered. "It just is." Istigkeit — wasn't that the word Meister Eckhart liked to use? "Is-ness." The Being of Platonic philosophy — except that Plato seems to have made the enormous, the grotesque mistake of separating Being from becoming and identifying it with the mathematical abstraction of the Idea. He could never, poor fellow, have seen a bunch of flowers shining with their own inner light and all but quivering under the pressure of the significance with which they were charged; could never have perceived that what rose and iris and carnation so intensely signified was nothing more, and nothing less, than what they were — a transience that was yet eternal life, a perpetual perishing that was at the same time pure Being, a bundle of minute, unique particulars in which, by some unspeakable and yet self-evident paradox, was to be seen the divine source of all existence.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: The Perennial Philosophy, 1945
The quote argues that true being is found in the fleeting, concrete particulars of life rather than abstract, eternal ideas.
In simple terms: Being lives in the moment of each thing.
Key Takeaway
Notice the divine in everyday details.
Themes
philosophy
existentialism
nature
transience
Mood
contemplative
reverent
Type
philosophical
inspirational
When to use this quote
- gardening
- art appreciation
- mindful walking
- observational science
Key Concepts
Platonic dualism
process philosophy
paradox
Questions to Reflect On
- How does focusing on particulars change your view of existence?
- Can you find the divine in ordinary objects?
A Different Perspective
Abstract ideas can miss the lived reality of things.
