--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As for types like my own, obscurely…" description: "\"As for types like my own, obscurely motivated by the conviction that our existence was worthless if we didn't make a turning point of it, we were assig..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a28/saul-bellow-558_age_as-for-types-like-my-own-obscurely-motiv_1398667.png" --- # As for types like my own, obscurely motivated by the… ![“As for types like my own, obscurely motivated by the conviction that our existence was worthless if we didn't make a turning point of it, we were assigned to the humanities, to poetry, philosophy, painting -- the nursery games of humankind, which had to be left behind when the age of science…” quote by Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a28/saul-bellow-558_age_as-for-types-like-my-own-obscurely-motiv_1398667.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a28/saul-bellow-558_age_as-for-types-like-my-own-obscurely-motiv_1398667.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a28/saul-bellow-558_age_as-for-types-like-my-own-obscurely-motiv_1398667.png) > “As for types like my own, obscurely motivated by the conviction that our existence was worthless if we didn't make a turning point of it, we were assigned to the humanities, to poetry, philosophy, painting -- the nursery games of humankind, which had to be left behind when the age of science began. The humanities would be called upon to choose a wallpaper for the crypt, as the end drew near.” [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker sees humanities as a refuge for those who feel life is meaningless, assigning them to arts that become irrelevant as science dominates, yet they must still provide meaning at life's end. **In simple terms:** Humanities are a last refuge for meaning when science prevails. Key Takeaway Find purpose in creative work despite societal shifts. Themes meaning art science existentialism Mood reflective melancholic Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - academic research - personal crisis - career change - artistic pursuit Key Concepts humanism nihilism cultural transition Questions to Reflect On - How can humanities and science collaborate to enrich meaning? - What personal “turning point” can you create? A Different Perspective The quote may overstate the binary between humanities and science, ignoring interdisciplinary value. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Assigned Humanities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assigned-humanities-4894746/) [Began Humanities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/began-humanities-4894745/) [Behinds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behinds/) [Conviction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conviction/) [Ends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ends/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Games](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/games/) [Humanities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanities/) [Humanities Called](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanities-called-4110704/) [Humanities Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanities-poetry-4894747/) [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Humankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humankind/) [Left behind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/left-behind/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Motivated](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motivated/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Nursery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nursery/) [Painting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/painting/) [Philosophy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Turning point](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/turning-point/) [Type](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/type/) [Worthless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worthless/) [Would be](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/would-be/) ## Related quotes > [There are few humanities that could surpass in discipline, in beauty, in emotional and aesthetic satisfaction, those humanities which are called mathematics, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-watson-watt/there-are-few-humanities-that-could-surpass-in-discipline-in-beauty/) [Robert Watson-Watt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-watson-watt/) > [At different times I taught humanities, social sciences and pre-vocational education.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/at-different-times-i-taught-humanities-social-sciences-and-pre/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Combine science and humanities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/combine-science-and-humanities/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [“What we have witnessed in our own time is the death of universities as centres of critique. 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The world of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/what-we-must-learn-to-do-is-to-create-unbreakable-bonds-between-the/) [Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/) > [Creativity is essential to particle physics, cosmology, and to mathematics, and to other fields of science, just as it is to its more widely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-randall/creativity-is-essential-to-particle-physics-cosmology-and-to/) [Lisa Randall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-randall/) > [In the humanities and social sciences, and in fields like journalism and economics and so on, people have to be trained to be managers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/in-the-humanities-and-social-sciences-and-in-fields-like-journalism/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) ## More by Saul Bellow > [... a fellow can't predict what he will pick up in the form of influence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/a-fellow-can-t-predict-what-he-will-pick-up-in-the-form-of-influence/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [If I'm out of my mind, it's all right with me, thought Moses Herzog.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/if-i-m-out-of-my-mind-it-s-all-right-with-me-thought-moses-herzog/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [I have begun in old age to understand just how oddly we are all put together. 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My balance comes from instability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/myself-is-thus-and-so-and-will-continue-thus-and-so-and-why-fight-it/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“A strange heart. I myself can't account for it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/a-strange-heart-i-myself-can-t-account-for-it/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [The late philosopher Morris R. Cohen of CCNY was asked by a student in the metaphysics course, Professor Cohen, how do I know that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/the-late-philosopher-morris-r-cohen-of-ccny-was-asked-by-a-student-in/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“Therefore we didn't talk of genuine things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/therefore-we-didn-t-talk-of-genuine-things/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [Is our species crazy? Plenty of evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/is-our-species-crazy-plenty-of-evidence/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“But now the emphasis has shifted to making it. People have surrendered their personal moral objectives to government or schools or psychologists. It’s a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/but-now-the-emphasis-has-shifted-to-making-it-people-have-surrendered/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [There's a kind of emptiness at the center of life ... nothing to form your life on, or by.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/there-s-a-kind-of-emptiness-at-the-center-of-life-nothing-to-form/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [“I don't know how it all at once came to me to talk a lot, tell jokes, kick up, and suddenly have views. 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But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) > [When I first started writing, when I was 15, I would go to work with people and they would tell me my lyrics were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sabrina-claudio/when-i-first-started-writing-when-i-was-15-i-would-go-to-work-with/) [Sabrina Claudio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sabrina-claudio/) > [Real people speak in my books about the main events of the age, such as the war, the Chernobyl disaster, and the downfall of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/svetlana-alexievich/real-people-speak-in-my-books-about-the-main-events-of-the-age-such/) [Svetlana Alexievich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/svetlana-alexievich/) > [As a child I was very involved with sports and I knew at age 9 that I wanted to be an Olympic champion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-jones/as-a-child-i-was-very-involved-with-sports-and-i-knew-at-age-9-that-i/) [Marion Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-jones/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [I am just enjoying the dream of being Milan coach at the age of 40.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennaro-gattuso/i-am-just-enjoying-the-dream-of-being-milan-coach-at-the-age-of-40/) [Gennaro Gattuso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennaro-gattuso/) > [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. 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That was a hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-kaulitz/we-have-started-to-make-music-at-age-seven-that-was-a-hard-work/) [Bill Kaulitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-kaulitz/) [Browse all 18,948 Age quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "As for types like my own, obscurely motivated by the conviction that our existence was worthless if we didn't make a turning point of it, we were assigned to the humanities, to poetry, philosophy, painting -- the nursery games of humankind, which had to be left behind when the age of science began. 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