16 Quotes by Alphonso Lingis

A man who works hard and uses his wealth to purchase jewelry to adorn himself, suits tailored in London, shoes handmade in Rome, and a hundred-thousand-dollar sportscar, which he drives cautiously and keeps in meticulous repair, will be view

A man who works hard and uses his wealth to purchase jewelry to adorn himself, suits tailored in London, shoes handmade in Rome, and a hundred-thousand-dollar sportscar, which he drives cautiously and keeps in meticulous repair, will be viewed by everybody as a poor fool with a lot of pathetic needs.

A man who works hard and uses his wealth to purchase jewelry to adorn himself, suits tailored in London, shoes handmade in Rome, and a hundred-thousand-dollar sportscar, which he drives cautiously and keeps in meticulous repair, will be view.

We would not know what happens if we did not know extreme pleasure, if we did not know extreme pain! It is because we sense that the only way to know what we are capable of, what we care about, what we fear, is to plunge into insecurity, loneliness, hunger, and cold, that we leave home to hitchhike across the country.

The violation of the existence and natures of things, of oneself, or of others is evil. Disrespect encroaches upon the space of others, and alters or empties their nature. Respect is respect for the limits, the boundaries, the space of others, and thus for their natures. Morally good action designates the active respect for others, for things, and also for ourselves.

A gift is truly a gift only to the extent that, however modest, there is an element of impetuousness, recklessness in it. Giving is a passionate act. Giving, by abnegating ownership of resources, puts the giver at risk. Every act of giving already educes the passion to give one’s life.

You will be identified as thin-skinned and moody; in reaction you will identify yourself as civilized and sensitive. You will barricade yourself in that preposterous condition known as self-respect.

The term gift designates events, apparitions, and things whose grandeur and graciousness remove them from practices of appropriation – from measurement, categorization, and seizure.

Power among humans is not simply the physical force with which one material body may move another; it is the force to distract, detour, maneuver, and command. Every pleasure we indulge in and every pain we suffer exerts power over others.