“We have no need of other worlds. We need mirrors. We don't know what to do with other worlds. A single world, our own, suffices us; but we can't accept it for what it is.”

—  Stanisław Lem , book Solaris

Source: Solaris

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Stanisław Lem 74
Polish science fiction author 1921–2006

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“We are only seeking Man. We have no need of other worlds. We need mirrors. We don't know what to do with other worlds.”

Source: Solaris (1961), Ch. 6: "The Little Apocrypha", p. 72
Context: We are only seeking Man. We have no need of other worlds. We need mirrors. We don't know what to do with other worlds. A single world, our own, suffices us; but we can't accept it for what it is. We are seaching for an ideal image of our own world: we go in quest of a planet, of a civilisation superior to our own but developed on the basis of a prototype of our primeval past. At the same time, there is something inside us which we don't like to face up to, from which we try to protect ourselves, but which nevertheless remains, since we don't leave Earth in a state of primal innocence. We arrive here as we are in reality, and when the page is turned and that reality is revealed to us — that part of our reality which we would prefer to pass over in silence — then we don't like it any more.

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“We need to create a world that is equitable, that is stable and a world where we bear in mind the needs of others, and not only what we need immediately. We are all in the same boat.”

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“What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.”

Albert Pike (1809–1891) Confederate States Army general and Freemason

"1860. In Lodge of Sorrow at Washington: March 30.", p. 11 <!-- [books.google.com/books?id=PTpRwZ1yEWwC&pg=PA11&dq=What+we+have+done+for+ourselves+Albert+Pike&hl=en&sa=X&ei=akWkT_3QCqLA6AHG_7G6CQ&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=remains immortal&f=false page 11] -->
In sentiment this is similar to the expression made much earlier by Giordano Bruno in On the Infinite Universe and Worlds (1584) : "What you receive from others is a testimony to their virtue; but all that you do for others is the sign and clear indication of your own."
Ex Corde Locutiones: Words from the Heart Spoken of His Dead Brethren
Variant: What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.

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