“All of us have theories about the world and about ourselves. We will go to great lengths to prove ourselves right because it keeps the world in our head coherent and understandable.”

— Marya Hornbacher

Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "All of us have theories about the world and about ourselves. We will go to great lengths to prove ourselves right becau…" by Marya Hornbacher?

Marya Hornbacher 37

American journalist 1974

Neil Postman (1931–2003) American writer and academic

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (1985)
Context: We no longer have a coherent conception of ourselves, and our universe, and our relation to one another and our world. We no longer know, as the Middle Ages did, where we come from, and where we are going, or why. That is, we don't know what information is relevant, and what information is irrelevant to our lives.

“If it could be brought about that all the billions of beings who inhabit this sphere would refrain from all acts which would in any way mar the happiness of others, that moment the earth would be transformed. We have thousands of theories as to how to make the world better, and we struggle day and night to understand and control the great natural forces about us; but if we could only get inside of ourselves once and set ourselves to working right, the biggest step toward the Millennium would be taken.”

J. Howard Moore (1862–1916)

Source: Ethics and Education (1912), The Importance of Ethical Culture, p. 6

“True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.”

Isocrates (-436–-338 BC) ancient greek rhetorician

“The world is a story we tell ourselves about the world.”

Vikram Chandra (1961) Indian writer

“Let us give up our work, our thoughts, our plans, ourselves, our lives, our loved ones, our influence, our all, right into His hand, and then, when we have given all over to Him, there will be nothing left for us to be troubled about, or to make trouble about.”

James Hudson Taylor (1832–1905) Missionary in China

(Hudson Taylor’s Choice Sayings: A Compilation from His Writings and Addresses. London: China Inland Mission, n.d., 52).
Variant: Let us give up our work, our thoughts, our plans, ourselves, our lives, our loved ones, our influence, our all, right into His hand, and then, when we have given all over to Him, there will be nothing left for us to be troubled about, or to make trouble about.