Sunday 9 May 2010

A thought for a Sunday


"Life is a series of collisions with the future; it is not the sum of what we have been, but what we yearn to be".


Jose Ortega y Gasset (1883 – 1955)

4 comments:

dave hambidge said...

Andy, may I take a slightly different view on this quote?

Life is not JUST the sum of what we have been; although our past is very important to how we manage the future collisions we yearn for AND those beyond our control.

(All shrink speak of course!)

Andy Holroyd said...

Cheers Dave, I doubt I can say this properly but I'll try:

Taken literally, Ortega y Gasset's quote is like a fly banging it's head on a windowpane.

I don't yearn for what is beyond my control. There are limits and I do not want superpowers.

Of course there is the utterly unexpected but, closer to home, our everyday interaction with others helps mitigate life's ups and downs.

I agree, we are not JUST the sum of what we have been, we are the sum of what we have caused and what has occurred regardless of us. A much bigger thing, yearnings included.

dave hambidge said...

Andy, not bad for halfpast nine on a sunday night!

"... we are the sum of what we have caused and what has occurred regardless of us." Spot on sirrah!

Andy Holroyd said...

Cheers Dave, these posts are supposed to get us thinking.