Change Quote by Robert Musil
““The drive of his own nature to keep developing prevents him from believing that anything is final and complete, yet everything he encounters behaves as though it were final and complete. He suspects that the given order of things is not as solid as it pretends to be; no thing, no self, no form, no principle, is safe, everything is undergoing an invisible but ceaseless transformation, the unsettled holds more of the future than the settled, and the present is nothing but a hypothesis that has not yet been surmounted. What better can he do than hold himself apart from the world, in the good sense exemplified by the scientist's guarded attitude toward facts that might be tempting him to premature conclusions? Hence he hesitates in trying to make something of himself; a character, a profession, a fixed mode of being, are for him concepts that already shadow forth the outlines of the skeleton, which is all that will be left of him in the end.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil, 1930
The narrator sees reality as constantly changing, urging a guarded, scientific stance against premature conclusions, while resisting fixed identities.
In simple terms: Reality changes; stay curious, avoid rigid labels.
Question assumptions, stay adaptable.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- research
- career planning
- personal development
- creative work
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you handle uncertainty?
- When is it okay to commit to a role?
Rigid identities can provide comfort.