“What is the use for a man to have at his disposal a large field of action, if within himself he remains confine to the narrow limits of his individuality.”
Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 49.
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African Spir 98
Russian philosopher 1837–1890Related quotes

Diary of an Unknown (1988), On Invisibility
Context: Man seeks to escape himself in myth, and does so by any means at his disposal... unnable to withdraw into himself, he disguises himself. Lies and inaccuracy give him a few moments of comfort, the trifling feeling of escape experienced at a masked ball. He distances himself from that which he feels and sees. He invents. He transfigures. He mythifies. He creates. He fancies himself an artist. He imitates, in his small way, the painters he claims are mad.

[2003, Survey of Metaphysics and Esoterism, World Wisdom, 220, 978-0-94153227-3]
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"Psychological Observations"
Parerga and Paralipomena (1851), Studies in Pessimism
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Source: Studies in Pessimism: The Essays


Source: Selected Essays (1904), "Priest and Prophet" (1893), pp. 130-131