Identity Quote by Robert Nisbet
““The notion of an impersonal, even hostile society is common--a society in which all actions and motives seem to have equal value and to be perversely detached from human direction. Common too is the helplessness of the individual before alien forces--not the hero who does things, but as Wynham Lewis has put it, the hero to whom things are done. The disenchanted, lonely figure, searching for ethical significance in the smallest of things, struggling for identification with race or class or group, incessantly striving to answer the question, "Who am I, What am I", has become, especially in Europe, almost the central literary type of the age. Not the free individual, but the lost individual; not independence but isolation; not self-discovery but self-obsession; not to conquer but to be conquered; these are the major states of mind in contemporary literature.””
About This Quote
Source Essay: The Lost Individual in Contemporary Literature, 1970s
The quote describes modern literature's focus on alienated individuals overwhelmed by impersonal societies, emphasizing isolation over agency.
In simple terms: Modern literature highlights alienated, powerless individuals in hostile societies.
Key Takeaway
Recognize and resist feelings of helplessness.
Themes
alienation
identity
societal critique
existentialism
Mood
melancholic
reflective
Type
critical
analytical
When to use this quote
- urban life
- academic study
- personal reflection
- therapy
- creative writing
Key Concepts
postmodernism
psychology
social theory
Questions to Reflect On
- How does societal structure shape personal identity?
- Can individuals reclaim agency within hostile systems?
A Different Perspective
It may overgeneralize all contemporary works as pessimistic.
![“In the worldly life, due to maadakta (intoxication of the ego of ‘I am Chandubhai’), one has completely lost awareness of everything about one’s self. Everything in the worldly life is nothing but intoxication. The food is intoxicating, the senses are intoxicating. [Therefore] Go to the one, who…” quote by Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/2b3/dada-bhagwan-31_absolute_in-the-worldly-life-due-to-maadakta-into_3662.jpg)
