"The Festival of Insignificance" Milan Kundera

The Insignificance of Man is a congenial theme; my own insignificance is a sore point.  
         Mason Cooley

Milan Kundera in his novel "The Festival of Insignificance" sums up the value of insignificance as follows:  


"I've wanted to talk to you about something.  About the value of insignificance. . . . Insignificance, my friend, is the essence of existence.  It is all around us, and everywhere and always.  It is present even when no one wants to see it: in horror, in bloody battles, in the worst disasters.  It often takes courage to acknowledge it in such dramatic situations, and to call it by name.  But it is not only a matter of acknowledging it, we must learn to love it.  Breathe, D'Ardelo, my friend, inhale this insignificance that's all around us, it is the key to wisdom, it is the key to a good mood . . ."

Your personal significance will come from the acceptance of the existential givens and living your life in accord with the following:


Indeed insignificance is omnipresent and that is in spite of the fact that every individual wants to believe that he / she is significant and what they do matters. This is the search for authentic meaning in life.  The epigraph by Cooley captures the fact that it seems fine to consider "insignificance from a cultural, philosophical, or psychological view but our own significance / insignificance is quite another matter.

"Life is not a problem to be solved but a mystery to be lived."

                                                           Gabriel Marcel



"For the sake of goodness and love, man shall let death have no sovereignty over his thoughts." 



                                                       Thomas Mann