Anguish
Anguish is a term used in philosophy, often as a translation from the Latin angst. It is a paramount feature of existentialist philosophy, in which anguish is often understood as the experience of an utterly free being in a world with zero absolutes (existential despair). In the theology of Kierkegaard, it refers to a being with total free will who is in a constant state of spiritual fear that his freedom will lead him to fall short of the standards that God has laid out for him.
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Famous quotes containing the word anguish:
“Hetty [Burney’s sister] set down to the harpsichord and sung ... we departed this life of anguish and misery, and rested our weary souls in the Elysian field—my papa’s study—there, freed from the noise and bustle of the world enjoyed the harmony of chattering—and the melody of music!”
—Frances Burney (1752–1840)
“The two elements the traveler first captures in the big city are extrahuman architecture and furious rhythm. Geometry and anguish. At first glance, the rhythm may be confused with gaiety, but when you look more closely at the mechanism of social life and the painful slavery of both men and machines, you see that it is nothing but a kind of typical, empty anguish that makes even crime and gangs forgivable means of escape.”
—Federico García Lorca (1898–1936)
“Which Anguish was the utterest—then—
To perish, or to live?”
—Emily Dickinson (1830–1886)