Words matter. They can cheer you up or bring you down. This is the reason why we read and write and love our language dearly — for we know how it influences our lives.
Does it always have to be a book (or a play or poem) that alters our perspectives? Could it be a sentence too? Well, as it turns out, any amount of words can have that impact as long as we are in the company of a great writer.
Immanuel Kant (1724 – 1804), in one of his finest works Critique of Pure Reason, wrote:
The light dove, in free flight, cutting through the air the resistance of which it feels, could get the idea that it could do even better in airless space.
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant’s dove metaphor speaks for itself. It’s not just about the dove. The metaphor of dove and its flight is meant for all of us. Quite often we do not realise the fact that what seems to be stopping us could be helping us move forward.
Extend this thought to different aspects of your life.
- Are your parents stopping you?
- Are your friends stopping you?
- Is your job stopping you?
- Is your country stopping you?
Maybe they are stopping you. Maybe they are the obstacle that keeps you from achieving your dreams. But maybe — and you should consider this — they are also among the forces that are responsible to have brought you this far. Could it be so?
So many modern-day ideologies crumble under the weight of this single sentence. Think about that for a moment. How often we resist or protest against our societies which could in turn be helping us survive!
Kalampedia 