The key question, it seemed to him, was that of whether man was to obey Nature, or attempt to command her. It had been answered long, long ago, claimed Moss; man's very essence lay in the fact that he had elected to command. But to Stenham that seemed a shallow reply. To him wisdom consisted in the conscious and joyous obedience to natural laws, yet when he had said that to Moss, Moss had laughed pityingly. 'My dear man, wisdom is a primitive concept, ' he had told him. 'What we want now is knowledge.' Only great disillusionment could make a man say such a thing, Stenham believed. Paul Bowles
About This Quote

Stenham believed that the basis of wisdom was understanding. His world was one where man was the ruler of his own destiny and he followed his instincts, not the dictates of nature. He did not want people to be controlled by the natural laws of the world and he did not want them to obey nature and do what they were told. He believed that this did not make him wise but only shortsighted.

Source: The Spiders House

Some Similar Quotes
  1. A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you. - Elbert Hubbard
  2. The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends. - Friedrich Nietzsche
  3. Ur be the things I am wiser to know: Idleness, sorrow, a friend, and a foe. Four be the things I'd been better without: Love, curiosity, freckles, and doubt. Three be the things I shall never attain: Envy, content, and sufficient champagne. Three be the... - Dorothy Parker
  4. The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me; my eye and God's eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, one love. - Meister Eckhart
  5. Conquer the angry one by not getting angry; conquer the wicked by goodness; conquer the stingy by generosity, and the liar by speaking the truth.] - Gautama Buddha
More Quotes By Paul Bowles
  1. At some point in the night she had a dream. Or it was possible that she was partially awake, and was only remembering a dream? She was alone among the rocks on a dark coast beside the sea. The water surged upward and fell back...
  2. The key question, it seemed to him, was that of whether man was to obey Nature, or attempt to command her. It had been answered long, long ago, claimed Moss; man's very essence lay in the fact that he had elected to command. But to...
  3. Because neither she nor Port had ever lived a life of any kind of regularity, they had both made the fatal error of coming hazily to regard time as non-existent. One year was like another year. Eventually everything would happen.
  4. You know what politique is? It is the French word for a lie. Kdoub! Politique! When you hear the French say: our politique, you know they mean: our lies. And when you hear the Moslems, the Friends of Independence, say: our politique, you know they...
  5. Decadence, decadence, he said to himself. They’ve lost everything and gained nothing. The French had merely daubed on the finishing touches at the end of a process which had begun five hundred years ago, at least. Their intuitive moral desires coincided with the ideals embodied...
Related Topics