“Why, then, has mankind not long ago gone extinct during great epidemics of madness? Why do only a fairly minor number of individuals perish because they fail to endure the strain of living — because cognition gives them more than they can carry? Cultural history, as well as observation of ourselves and others, allow the following answer: Most people learn to save themselves by artificially limiting the content of consciousness.”

The Last Messiah [Den sidste Messias] (1933)

Original

Hvorfor er menneskeslegten da ikke forlængst dødd ut under store vanvidsepidemier? Hvorfor er der bare et forholdsvis ringe antal individer som forkommer fordi de ikke kan holde livspresset ut, – fordi erkjendelsen gir dem mer enn de kan bære? Saavel aandshistorien som iagttagelsen av os selv og andre gir basis for følgende svar: De fleste mennesker lærer at redde sig ved kunstig at redusere sit bevissthetsindhold.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Oct. 29, 2022. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Why, then, has mankind not long ago gone extinct during great epidemics of madness? Why do only a fairly minor number o…" by Peter Wessel Zapffe?
Peter Wessel Zapffe photo
Peter Wessel Zapffe 15
Norwegian philosopher, mountaineer, and author 1899–1990

Related quotes

“Most people learn to save themselves by artificially limiting the content of consciousness.”

Thomas Ligotti (1953) American horror author

Source: The Conspiracy Against the Human Race: A Contrivance of Horror

Derek Parfit photo

“Why do we save the larger number? Because we do give equal weight to saving each. Each counts for one. That is why more count for more.”

Source: Derek Parfit, ‘Innumerate Ethics’, Philosophy and Public Affairs, vol. 7, no. 4 (Summer, 1978), p. 301

Billy Collins photo
Bertrand Russell photo

“"I don't want to! Why should I?"
"Because more people will be happier if you do than if you don't."
"So what? I don't care about other people."
"You should."
"But why?"
"Because more people will be happier if you do than if you don't."”

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

Dialogue between Russell and his daughter Katharine, as quoted in My Father – Bertrand Russell (1975)
Attributed from posthumous publications

Ervin László photo
Cornel West photo
Koichi Tohei photo

“People today are more concerned with what they can get, than what they can give or do for others. That is why they cannot extend Ki.”

Koichi Tohei (1920–2011) Japanese aikidoka

51
Ki Sayings (2003)
Context: Some people are quick to find reasons and excuses why they cannot do things. This cuts their Ki and in times stifles their motivation altogether. Motivation is extending Ki, not receiving it. People today are more concerned with what they can get, than what they can give or do for others. That is why they cannot extend Ki. <!-- Even our own training can be as intoku or good done in secret. Because someday it will bear fruit in the ability to help others develop.

“History is not written as it was experienced, nor should it be. The inhabitants of the past know better than we do what it was like to live there, but they were not well placed, most of them, to understand what was happening to them and why.”

Tony Judt (1948–2010) British historian

Introduction: The Misjudgment of Paris
The Burden of Responsibility: Blum, Camus, Aron, and the French Twentieth Century (1998)

Related topics