“I had motives for not wanting the world to have a meaning; and consequently assumed that it had none, and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption. The philosopher who finds no meaning in the world is not concerned exclusively with a problem in pure metaphysics. He is also concerned to prove that there is no valid reason why he personally should not do as he wants to do. For myself, as no doubt for most of my friends, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation from a certain system of morality. We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom. The supporters of this system claimed that it embodied the meaning - the Christian meaning, they insisted - of the world. There was one admirably simple method of confuting these people and justifying ourselves in our erotic revolt: we would deny that the world had any meaning whatever.”

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About Aldous Huxley

English writer and philosopher

Aldous Huxley was an English writer and philosopher. He is known for a body of work that stretches across nearly 50 books, and includes nonfiction, essays, narratives, and poems. His writing ranges widely in form, which is part of why he is remembered as both a literary figure and a thinker. The breadth of his bibliography points to a career shaped by reflection, argument, and invention.

More from Aldous Huxley (231 quotes) →

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Books by Aldous Huxley

Brave New World

2004

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Crome yellow

2007

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Antic Hay

2004

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Brave New World Revisited

2004

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Those barren leaves, a novel

1949

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