--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For it is in the field where meaning is…" description: "\"For it is in the field where meaning is constitutive that man's freedom reaches its highest point. There too his responsibility is greatest. There ther..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/117/bernard-lonergan-31286_emergence_for-it-is-in-the-field-where-meaning-is_1248080.jpg" --- # For it is in the field where meaning is constitutive that… ![“For it is in the field where meaning is constitutive that man's freedom reaches its highest point. There too his responsibility is greatest. There there occurs the emergence of his existential subject, finding out for himself that he has to decide for himself what he is to make of himself.” quote by Bernard Lonergan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/117/bernard-lonergan-31286_emergence_for-it-is-in-the-field-where-meaning-is_1248080.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/117/bernard-lonergan-31286_emergence_for-it-is-in-the-field-where-meaning-is_1248080.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/117/bernard-lonergan-31286_emergence_for-it-is-in-the-field-where-meaning-is_1248080.jpg) > “For it is in the field where meaning is constitutive that man's freedom reaches its highest point. There too his responsibility is greatest. There there occurs the emergence of his existential subject, finding out for himself that he has to decide for himself what he is to make of himself.” [Bernard Lonergan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lonergan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human freedom peaks when meaning is created through responsibility, leading to authentic self‑definition. **In simple terms:** Freedom grows with responsibility and self‑choice. Key Takeaway Embrace responsibility to shape yourself. Themes freedom responsibility existentialism Mood reflective serious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal decision‑making - career choices - ethical leadership - creative projects Key Concepts meaning‑making subjectivity authenticity Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance freedom with responsibility? - What choices define your identity? A Different Perspective Responsibility can be overwhelming, causing paralysis. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Constitutive Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constitutive-man-3923276/) [Emergence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emergence/) [Existential](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existential/) [Existential Subject](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existential-subject-3923277/) [Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fields/) [Findings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/findings/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Highest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/highest/) [Man Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-freedom/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Responsibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/responsibility/) [Responsibility Greatest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/responsibility-greatest-1728340/) [Subjects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/subjects/) ## Related quotes > [I feel like it's my responsibility to be the greatest I can be. 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Aron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-n-aron/) > [Nothing is more seductive for a man than his freedom of conscience, but nothing is a greater cause of suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/nothing-is-more-seductive-for-a-man-than-his-freedom-of-conscience/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Unless the will is free, man has no freedom; and if he has no freedom he is not a moral agent, that is, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-grandison-finney/unless-the-will-is-free-man-has-no-freedom-and-if-he-has-no-freedom/) [Charles Grandison Finney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-grandison-finney/) > [You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the other man's freedom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarence-darrow/you-can-only-protect-your-liberties-in-this-world-by-protecting-the/) [Clarence Darrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarence-darrow/) > [“Man is free rather than man is freedom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/man-is-free-rather-than-man-is-freedom/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [No man can take your freedom from you. 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Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) ## More by Bernard Lonergan > [Thoroughly understand what it is to understand, and not only will you understand the broad lines of all there is to be understood but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lonergan/thoroughly-understand-what-it-is-to-understand-and-not-only-will-you/) [Bernard Lonergan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lonergan/) > [It is in the measure that special methods acknowledge their common core in transcendental method, that norms common to all the sciences will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lonergan/it-is-in-the-measure-that-special-methods-acknowledge-their-common/) [Bernard Lonergan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lonergan/) > [Total surrender to the demands of the human spirit: be attentive, be intelligent, be reasonable, be responsible, be in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lonergan/total-surrender-to-the-demands-of-the-human-spirit-be-attentive-be/) [Bernard Lonergan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lonergan/) > [In philosophy an individual is becoming himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lonergan/in-philosophy-an-individual-is-becoming-himself/) [Bernard Lonergan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lonergan/) > [The church always arrives on the scene a little breathless and a little late.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lonergan/the-church-always-arrives-on-the-scene-a-little-breathless-and-a/) [Bernard Lonergan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lonergan/) > [No matter what your logic is, if it is coherent, you can develop a technique to express it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lonergan/no-matter-what-your-logic-is-if-it-is-coherent-you-can-develop-a/) [Bernard Lonergan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lonergan/) > [Freely the subject makes himself what he is, never in this life is the making finished, always it is in process, always it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lonergan/freely-the-subject-makes-himself-what-he-is-never-in-this-life-is-the/) [Bernard Lonergan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lonergan/) > [“To demand the absolute and to be content with absolutely nothing else results in a skepticism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lonergan/to-demand-the-absolute-and-to-be-content-with-absolutely-nothing-else/) [Bernard Lonergan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lonergan/) > [Faith ... is a conscious apprehension of something inevident, something which unlike this desk and this chair is not seen to be there, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-lonergan/faith-is-a-conscious-apprehension-of-something-inevident-something/) [Bernard Lonergan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-lonergan/) > [Discovery is new beginning. 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