Svend Brinkmann Quotes

We now talk about fast food, speed dating, power-naps and short-term therapy. Recently, I tested an app called Spritz. It only shows a single word at a time, but increases your reading speed from 250 to 500-600 words a minute. Suddenly you can read a novel in a couple of hours! But does this help you understand literature any better?

Without an ethical framework, the will is random, controlled solely by the individual's more or less fleeting desires...

Everything that can possibly happen at some point, can happen today.

It is — without a shadow of doubt — better to be an inauthentic Mother Teresa than an authentic Anders Breivik. Indeed, being yourself has no intrinsic value whatsoever. On the other hand, what does have inherent value is fulfilling your obligations to the people with whom you are interconnected (i.e. doing your duty), and whether you are yourself while doing so is essentially meaningless.

She thinks positivity is particularly widespread in the USA, but has become a kind of universally accepted international pocket psychology in most Western countries — we should all 'think positively, be ‘resource-oriented and see problems as interesting ‘challenges'. This phenomenon has now reached the point where seriously ill people are expected to 'learn from their illness' and ideally emerge as a stronger person on the other side.

Föreställningen att människor i dag "har alla möjligheter" (vilket man framför allt har inbillat ungdomarna) är förstås en illusion, som många tyvärr tror på, med den naturliga följden att man förebrår sig själv när man upplever att man inte räcker till.

Modern society’s pursuit of the authentic and emotional has given us what Sennett has dubbed the ‘tyranny of intimacy’, in which the ideal of human relations has become the emotionally based, authentic encounter (in private life, in education and at work). However, this ideal just leads to people constantly hurting each other.

Perhaps we should learn from Leonard Cohen, who sings in ‘That Don’t Make It Junk’: ‘I know that I’m forgiven, but I don’t know how I know. I don’t trust my inner feelings. Inner feelings come and go.

Do less, more thoroughly.

Frihed består ikke i en konstant kredsen om sig selv og sine indre lyster og ønsker, men i en besindelse på det, man er en del af og kommer fra.

Så selvet er hverken vores psyke eller vores biologiske krop, ej heller summen af dem, men derimod det, at et menneske kan forholde sig til syntesen (eller forholdet) mellem dem. Selvet er altså det forhold ved os, at vi ikke blot har et forhold til vores psyke, krop eller verden i almindelighed, men kan forholde os til, hvordan vi forholder os til disse størrelser.

In our secular world, we no longer see eternal paradise as a carrot at the end of the stick of life, but try to cram as much as possible into our relatively short time on the planet instead. This is, of course, a futile endeavour, doomed to failure. It is tempting to interpret the modern epidemics of depression and burnout as the individual's response to the unbearable nature of constant acceleration. The decelerating individual - who slows down instead of speeding up, and maybe even stops completely - seems out of place in a culture characterised by manic development, and may be interpreted pathologically (i.e. diagnosed as clinically depressed).

The philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre has developed a concept of ‘living traditions’, which suggests that traditions are entirely distinct from consensus and a simple repetition of the past. He defines a living tradition as ‘an historically extended, socially embodied argument, and an argument precisely in part about the goods which constitute that tradition’.6 It may seem strange to define a tradition as an ‘argument’ extended over time, but it suggests that any tradition – e.g. of political co-operation, educational practices or artistic activity – must involve a continuous discussion of what it is and how to legitimise or change it. Traditions aren’t monolithic and unchanging (apart from dead ones, of course). They are living, dynamic and in constant motion.

Som mennesker er vi livshistorier, der er flettet sammen med mange andres historier. Selvfølgelig de levendes historier. Dem, der har betydet noget for os og gjort os til dem, vi er. Men også de dødes historier. Dem, der har skabt vores sprog, kultur, myter og viden. Ingen skriver sin historie alene. En stor del af den er givet ved vores biologiske artsnatur, vores almenmenneskelige fornuft, vores følelsesliv og socialitet. Men enhver må finde sin stemme at fortælle med i koret af menneskelige historier. Det er sådan, man bliver sig selv: ved at blive menneske.

Rigtig meget - herunder de humanistiske discipliner - [...] kan gøre nytte ved at være unyttige. Med det mener jeg, at vi mere end nogensinde før har brug for at markere, at der er andet og mere i tilværelsen end "det nyttige". Denne erkendelse vil nemlig være nyttig på en dybere, eksistentiel vis.

...the point [of self control] is that we should miss out on that which poses a threat to our moral fortitude and psychological integrity such as constantly hunting for new experiences, relationships and objects that provide a fleeting rush of happiness...

O Passo Um deste guia é aceitar que você não encontrará respostas olhando para dentro. Simplesmente não há razão para dar tanta importância aos sentimentos viscerais e à introspecção.

I den accelererende kultur skal man have fødder og ikke rødder. Har man fødder, kan man bevæge sig rundt. Man er mobil, flydende, foranderlig. Man kan løbe, danse og bevæge sig i alle retninger, alt efter hvad der er påkrævet. Har man derimod rødder, er man gået i stå og groet fast. Man kan måske nok bøjes som en plante, men man kan ikke umiddelbart flyttes.

You need to accept that the self does not hold the key to how to live your life.

Better to face reality than ‘live in a fool's paradise', as my gran would say.

Epictetus would say that it is better to cradle a screaming baby in your arms than a lifeless one. The negative visualisation helps us to endure the screaming.

Only robots always say yes.

True internal control — called integrity in this book — consists of adhering to moral values, understanding the importance of obligations and duty, and using reason to determine what is good and right in a given situation.

He describes how, as individuals in this project society, we 'book' ourselves with appointments and projects in an attempt to use our capacity fully — much like airlines do. Since our duties in life have become mere 'projects', they are, of course, temporary, and we just jettison them if something more interesting pops up on our radar.

Adults should choose dignity over authenticity.

I once heard a sex therapist say that people used to visit her clinic to talk about having too much libido, but now it's more likely to be about having too little. The problem today isn't the people who are (overly) flexible, it's the ones who are (overly) stable: they lack sufficient motivation, drive and craving to keep up with the ever-present demands for flexibility, adaptability and self-development.

He argues that societies have a need for rituals, as a precondition for people spending time together in civilised ways. There is nothing inauthentic about basing your behaviour in public on certain ritualised social conventions.

As a rule, our feelings don’t constitute a foundation on which to stand firm. Rather, they change in response to prevailing circumstances and trends.

Put your emotions on hold until you really need them. If you 'hate' pâté, there are no words left to describe what you think of tyrants. And if you 'love' pâté, what words will you use to describe how you feel about your kids?

In fact, there is a great deal of evidence to suggest that the biggest social problems stem not from low but from high self-esteem, which is statistically associated with psychopathy and immorality.

Marcus Aurelius was also preoccupied with the insignificance of things as an antidote to anger. In general, he recommends that you consider the impermanence of all things in order to avoid anger and frustration when those things disappear. If a cup is broken, it may well be a pity — especially if it was valuable — but from the perspective of eternity, where everything is ultimately doomed to perish, it is an extremely small and insignificant matter.

The concept of coaching is based on constant development and change — regardless of direction and content.

According to the consumer mentality that epitomises our era, the customer is always right — so only I know what is good and bad for me. The coach's job is to help me learn about myself and my preferences, but not to dictate them to me. They must reflect my wishes and help me realise my goals. The coach asks questions, but the answers come from within me.

The traditional concept of upbringing is based on the idea that there are things outside of the self that are worth knowing. It is generally accepted that it is the job of parents (but also nursery and school teachers) to bestow upon their wards the character and integrity discussed in the previous step, so that they recognise and remain within those social boundaries.

This seems to be one of the aspects of a more wide-ranging trend in the accelerating culture: that it is harder and harder to build proper friendships.

Together, maybe you and your new friend will discover that certain things have intrinsic value, and are not simply defined by their ability to maximise utility based on personal preferences — i.e. making the maximum number of our wishes come true.

In other words, the trick is to learn to appreciate things that can't be 'used' for some other function.

It's somewhat banal to say that the contemporary obsession with (auto)biographies reflects a culture of (individualisation — but if that is the case, then it is only banal in the sense of 'blindingly obvious'. I also think that there is something about the linear progression of the biography, in which events happen in chronological order, that has a reassuring effect in an accelerating culture that otherwise seems to be running amok.

It is claimed that self-realisation results in self-sufficient adults, but it actually creates infantile, dependent adults who think that the truth lies within them.

Our modern understanding of life as an autobiographical project is undoubtedly linked to the emergence of the modern novel as a literary form.

It brings to mind Oscar Wilde, who argued in The Picture of Dorian Gray that only shallow people do not judge on the basis of the external: 'The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.

Once again, we find ourselves mired in a paradox: the way in which we prepare for the future shapes the future as a reflection of the way in which we prepared for it!

The Thomas theorem, a sociological staple, says: 'If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences.

We are forever being told to 'think outside the box'. Fortunately, less excitable creativity researchers have pointed out that it only makes sense to think outside the box if you know that there is a box (and what it's made of). In most cases, it's probably wiser to balance on the edge of the box, only tinkering around the edges and improvising around tried-and-tested themes. The new only makes sense within a horizon of something known. If you know nothing of the past and its traditions, it's impossible to create anything new that is useful.

In the novel All the Pretty Horses, Cormac McCarthy writes that the body's scars have the capacity to remind us that our past is real. It is an ancient practice among friends and lovers to study and compare scars, because they provide clear physical evidence of past events, and establish a link between then and now.

This is also why the (auto)biography so poorly encapsulates a person's life. As we saw in the previous step, it is far too linear and individualistic a genre to portray real life in all its dazzling complexity.

This is quite banal, but we often overlook it in our enthusiasm for the future: without traditions and their history, nothing is meaningful. Any meaning and significance that an action or a cultural product may have draws on historically developed practices.

If, for example, you learn a craft or play an instrument, you will understand that this is only possible because the specific practice has a long history, which you help to maintain and develop whenever you recreate aspects of it. To practise living traditions is to be reminded of the historical depth of our lives. In this way, you learn that everything doesn't necessarily always move forwards. For example, it isn't possible to build violins today that are as good as the instruments built in Stradivarius' workshop more than 300 years ago.

Of course, this isn't entirely correct, but it may serve as a useful corrective to the opposite dogma: that something is necessarily good because it's new.

It is absurd to be eternally mobile, positive and focused on the future, and to put the self at the centre of everything in life. Not only is it absurd, it also has adverse consequences for interpersonal relationships, as other people are quickly reduced to instruments to be used in the individual's pursuit of success, rather than an end in themselves, to whom we have moral obligations.

Fundamentally, life shouldn't be about trivial pursuits or adolescent identity crises (although these may be appropriate in certain stages of life), but about doing your duty.

The central message of this book — which, in this sense, is in line with Stoicism — is that by looking at the traditions, social practices and relationships of which we form a part, and the duties arising from them, we might regain the ability to address questions about the meaning and value of life.

The finest things about human beings are our sense of duty, peace of mind and dignity.

K. E. Løgstrup pointed out in his book Den etiske fordring (The Ethical Demand) that you must use your power over others for their good, not your own.