“A First Sign of the Beginning of Understanding is the Wish to Die.”

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Franz Kafka266

author 1883–1924

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“One of the first signs of the beginnings of understanding is the wish to die. This life appears unbearable, another unattainable. One is no longer ashamed of wanting to die; one asks to be moved from the old cell, which one hates, to a new one, which one will only in time come to hate.”

Franz Kafka book The Zürau Aphorisms

13
The Zürau Aphorisms (1917 - 1918)

“To understand the actual world as it is, not as we should wish it to be, is the beginning of wisdom.”

Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist

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“To achieve perfection, one must first begin by not understanding many things! And if we understand too quickly, we may not understand well.”

Fyodor Dostoyevsky book The Idiot

The Idiot (1868–9)
Context: Nor is there any embarrassment in the fact that we're ridiculous, isn't it true? For it's actually so, we are ridiculous, light-minded, with bad habits, we're bored, we don't know how to look, how to understand, we're all like that, all, you, and I, and they! Now, you're not offended when I tell you to your face that you're ridiculous? And if so, aren't you material? You know, in my opinion it's sometimes even good to be ridiculous, if not better: we can the sooner forgive each other, the sooner humble ourselves; we can't understand everything at once, we cant start right out with perfection! To achieve perfection, one must first begin by not understanding many things! And if we understand too quickly, we may not understand well. This I tell you, you, who have already been able to understand... and not understand … so much. I'm not afraid for you now;

“You wish to be great, begin from the least. You are thinking to construct some mighty fabric in height; first think of the foundation of humility.”

Aurelius Augustinus (354–430) early Christian theologian and philosopher

Sermon 19:2 on the New Testament http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/160319.htm Sermons Context: You wish to be great, begin from the least. You are thinking to construct some mighty fabric in height; first think of the foundation of humility. And how great soever a mass of building one may wish and design to place above it, the greater the building is to be, the deeper does he dig his foundation.

“I wish the first word I ever said was the word "quote," so right before I die I could say "unquote."”

Steven Wright (1955) American actor and author

When the Leaves Blow Away (2006), I Still Have a Pony (2007)

“Soon to die
yet showing no sign
the cicada's voice”

Bashō Matsuo (1644–1694) Japanese poet

やがてしぬ けしきはみえず 蝉の声 https://haikutopics.blogspot.ca/2006/07/voice-of-animal-xx-no-koe.html https://www.tofugu.com/japan/japanese-poetry-crash-course/ Individual poems