“To be an ignorant man, to posses nothing but a fragile word, to find oneself as if relying upon darkness and nothingness: that is the position from which one must be constantly setting out.”
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Jean Starobinski 1
Swiss writer 1920–2019Related quotes

written text with brush, in her painting JHM no. 4693 https://charlotte.jck.nl/detail/M004693/part/character/theme/keyword/M004693 + 4694 https://charlotte.jck.nl/detail/M004694/part/character/theme/keyword/M004694: in 'Life? or Theater..', p. 575
Charlotte Salomon - Life? or Theater?
"90 North," lines 28-32
Blood for a Stranger (1942)
Context: I see at last that all the knowledgeI wrung from the darkness — that the darkness flung me —
Is worthless as ignorance: nothing comes from nothing,
The darkness from the darkness. Pain comes from the darkness
And we call it wisdom. It is pain.

Source: The Self-Overcoming of Nihilism (1990), p. 187