Ernst Cassirer

“There is no remedy against this reversal of the natural order. Man cannot escape from his own achievement. He cannot but adopt the conditions of his own life. No longer in a merely physical universe, man lives in a symbolic universe. Language, myth, art, and religion are parts of this universe. They are the varied threads which weave the symbolic net, the tangled web of human experience. All human progress in thought and experience refines and strengthens this net. No longer can man confront reality immediately; he cannot see it, as it were, face to face. Physical reality seems to recede in proportion as man's symbolic activity advances. Instead of dealing with the things themselves man is in a sense constantly conversing with himself.He has so enveloped himself in linguistic forms, in artistic images, in mythical symbols or religious rites that he cannot see or know anything except by the interposition of this artificial medium. His situation is the same in the theoretical as in the practical sphere. Even here man does not live in a world of hard facts, or according to his immediate needs and desires. He lives rather in the midst of imaginary emotions, in hopes and fears, in illusions and disillusions, in his fantasies and dreams. 'What disturbs and alarms man,' said Epictetus, 'are not the things, but his opinions and fantasies about the things.”

“Absolute trust in the reality of things begins to be shaken as the problem of truth enters upon the scene. The moment man ceases merely to live in and with reality and demands a knowledge of this reality, he moves into a new and fundamentally different relation to it. At first, to be sure, the question of truth seems to apply only to particular parts and not to the whole of reality. Within this whole different strata of validity begin to be marked off, reality seems to separate sharply from appearance. But it lies in the very nature of the problem of truth that once it arises it never comes to rest. The concept of truth conceals an immanent dialectic that drives it inexorably forward, forever extending its limits.”

“Knowledge of the name gives him who knows it mastery even over the being and will of the god.”

“Omul nu mai trăieşte într-un univers pur fizic, ci trăieşte într-un univers simbolic. Limbajul, mitul, arta şi religia sunt părţi ale acestui univers. Ele sunt firele diferite care ţes reţeaua simbolică, ţesătura încâlcită a experienţei umane. […]. Omul nu mai înfruntă realitatea în mod nemijlocit, el nu o poate vedea, cum se spune, faţa în faţă. Realitatea fizică pare să se retragă în măsura în care avansează activitatea simbolică a omului. În loc să aibă de a face cu lucrurile înseşi, omul conversează, într-un sens, în mod constant cu sine însuşi. El s-a închis în aşa fel în forme limgvistice, imagini artistice, simboluri mitice sau rituri religioase încât el nu mai poate vedea sau cunoaşte nimic decât prin intermediul acestui mediu artificial. Situaţia lui este aceeaşi în sfera teoretică şi în cea practică. Chiar şi aici, omul nu trăieşte într-o lume de fapte brute, sau confiorm nevoilor şi dorinţelor lui imediate. El trăieşte mai curând în mijlocul unor emoţii imaginare, în speranţe şi temeri, în iluzii şi deziluzii, în fanteziile şi visurile sale.”

“Man is always inclined to regard the small circle in which he lives as the center of the world and to make his particular, private life the standard of the universe and to make his particular, private life the standard of the universe. But he must give up this vain pretense, this petty provincial way of thinking and judging.”