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I Constantly Saw The False And The Bad, And Finally The Absurd And The Senseless, Standing In Universal Admiration And Honour.
-Arthur Schopenhauer
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I Constantly Saw The

Arthur Schopenhauer
...
I Constantly Saw The False And The Bad, And Finally The Absurd And The Senseless, Standing In Universal Admiration And Honour.

Understanding the Quote: "i constantly saw the false and the bad, and finally the absurd..."

This quote by Arthur Schopenhauer reflects deeply on the theme of saws. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Saws, Admiration, Absurd, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Arthur Schopenhauer interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Arthur Schopenhauer

Arthur Schopenhauer is celebrated for insightful thoughts on saws and admiration. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Saws
Admiration
Absurd
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The Beard, Being A Half-mask, Should Be Forbidden By The Police - It Is, Moreover, As A Sexual Symbol In The Middle Of The Face, Obscene: That Is Why It Pleases Women.
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With Health, Everything Is A Source Of Pleasure; Without It, Nothing Else, Whatever It May Be, Is Enjoyable...healt H Is By Far The Most Important Element In Human Happiness.
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A Book Can Never Be Anything More Than The Impression Of Its Author’s Thoughts. The Value Of These Thoughts Lies Either In The Matter About Which He Has Thought, Or In The Form In Which He Develops His Matter — That Is To Say, What He Has Thought About It.
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The Brut First Knows Death When It Dies, But Man Draws Consciously Nearer To It Every Hour That He Lives; And This Makes His Life At Times A Questionable Good Even To Him Who Has Not Recognised This Character Of Constant Anaihilation In The Whole Of Life.
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A Man Can Be Himself Only So Long As He Is Alone.
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As The Biggest Library If It Is In Disorder Is Not As Useful As A Small But Well-arranged One, So You May Accumulate A Vast Amount Of Knowledge But It Will Be Of Far Less Value To You Than A Much Smaller Amount If You Have Not Thought It Over For Yourself; Because Only Through Ordering What You Know By Comparing Every Truth With Every Other Truth Can You Take Complete Possession Of Your Knowledge And Get It Into Your Power. You Can Think About Only What You Know, So You Ought To Learn Something; On The Other Hand, You Can Know Only What You Have Thought About.
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Just As A Stream Flows Smoothly On As Long As It Encounters No Obstruction, So The Nature Of Man And Animal Is Such That We Never Really Notice Or Become Conscious Of What Is Agreeable To Our Will; If We Are To Notice Something, Our Will Has To Have Been Thwarted, Has To Have Experienced A Shock Of Some Kind.
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To Gain Anything We Have Longed For Is Only To Discover How Vain And Empty It Is; And Even Though We Are Always Living In Expectation Of Better Things, At The Same Time We Often Repent And Long To Have The Past Back Again.
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I Have Long Held The Opinion That The Amount Of Noise That Anyone Can Bear Undisturbed Stands In Inverse Proportion To His Mental Capacity And Therefore Be Regarded As A Pretty Fair Measure Of It.
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The Reason Domestic Pets Are So Lovable And So Helpful To Us Is Because They Enjoy, Quietly And Placidly, The Present Moment.
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No Greater Mistake Can Be Made Than To Imagine That What Has Been Written Latest Is Always The More Correct; That What Is Written Later On Is An Improvement On What Was Written Previously; And That Every Change Means Progress.
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It Is Only The Man Whose Intellect Is Clouded By His Sexual Impulse That Could Give The Name Of The Fair Sex To That Undersized, Narrow-shouldered, Broad-hipped, And Short-legged Race.
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Life Is A Business That Does Not Cover The Costs.
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Every Man Takes The Limits Of His Own Field Of Vision For The Limits Of The World. This Is An Error Of The Intellect As Inevitable As That Error Of The Eye Which Lets You Fancy That On The Horizon Heaven And Earth Meet.
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Children
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Men
Giving
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Mother
Art
Father
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Time
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Men
Eight
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Years
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The Principle Of Contradiction Establishes Merely The Agreement Of Concepts, But Does Not Itself Produce Concepts.
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Doctors
Soldier
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Men
Order
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Hallmark
Existence
Restlessness
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Loss
Teach
Values
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Target
Genius
Talent
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Growth
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Eye
Thinking
Years
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May
Firsts
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Death
Suicide
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Sleep
Life Is
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Pride
Guilt
My Body And My Will Are One.
Body
Our First Ideas Of Life Are Generally Taken From Fiction Rather Than Fact.
Life
Taken
Ideas
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Honesty
Writing
Littles
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Animal
Eternal
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Men
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Gambling
Animals Hear About Death For The First Time When They Die.
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People
Matter
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Great Minds Are Related To The Brief Span Of Time During Which They Live As Great Buildings Are To A Little Square In Which They Stand: You Cannot See Them In All Their Magnitude Because You Are Standing Too Close To Them.
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Squares
Mind
To Find Out Your Real Opinion Of Someone, Judge The Impression You Have When You First See A Letter From Them.
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Judging
First Impression
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Beautiful
Writing
Expression
Every Miserable Fool Who Has Nothing At All Of Which He Can Be Proud, Adopts As A Last Resource Pride In The Nation To Which He Belongs; He Is Ready And Happy To Defend All Its Faults And Follies Tooth And Nail, Thus Reimbursing Himself For His Own Inferiority.
Pride
Racism
Teeth
Suffering By Nature Or Chance Never Seems So Painful As Suffering Inflicted On Us By The Arbitrary Will Of Another.
Depression
Pain
World Suffering
No Doubt, When Modesty Was Made A Virtue, It Was A Very Advantageous Thing For The Fools, For Everybody Is Expected To Speak Of Himself As If He Were One.
Doubt
Fool
Modesty
Every Man Takes The Limits Of His Own Field Of Vision For The Limits Of The World.
Inspirational
Science
Men
Indeed, Intolerance Is Essential Only To Monotheism; An Only God Is By Nature A Jealous God Who Will Not Allow Another To Live. On The Other Hand, Polytheistic Gods Are Naturally Tolerant, They Live And Let Live.
Jealous
Hands
Religion
Life Is Neither To Be Wept Over Nor To Be Laughed At But To Be Understood.
True Life
Life Is
Understood
Genius Is Its Own Reward; For The Best That One Is, One Must Necessarily Be For Oneself. . . . Further, Genius Consists In The Working Of The Free Intellect., And As A Consequence The Productions Of Genius Serve No Useful Purpose. The Work Of Genius May Be Music, Philosophy, Painting, Or Poetry; It Is Nothing For Use Or Profit. To Be Useless And Unprofitable Is One Of The Characteristics Of Genius; It Is Their Patent Of Nobility.
Music
Philosophy
Useless
People Of Wealth And The So Called Upper Class Suffer The Most From Boredom.
Class
People
Boredom
A Great Affliction Of All Philistines Is That Idealities Afford Them No Entertainment, But To Escape From Boredom They Are Always In Need Of Realities.
Reality
Boredom
Needs
To Be Shocked At How Deeply Rejection Hurts Is To Ignore What Acceptance Involves. We Must Never Allow Our Suffering To Be Compounded By Suggestions That There Is Something Odd In Suffering So Deeply. There Would Be Something Amiss If We Didn't.
Hurt
Acceptance
Rejection
The Difficulty Is To Try And Teach The Multitude That Something Can Be True And Untrue At The Same Time.
Education
Teacher
Trying
The Greatest Intellectual Capacities Are Only Found In Connection With A Vehement And Passionate Will.
Intellectual
Connections
Passionate
A Man Must Have Grown Old And Lived Long In Order To See How Short Life Is.
Short Life
Men
Order
If At Times I Have Thought Myself Unfortunate, It Is Because Of A Confusion, An Error. I Have Mistaken Myself For Someone Else... Who Am I Really? I Am The Author Of The World As Will And Representation, I Am The One Who Has Given An Answer To The Mystery Of Being That Will Occupy The Thinkers Of Future Centuries. That Is What I Am, And Who Can Dispute It In The Years Of Life That Still Remain For Me?
Errors
Years
Confusion
Personal Courage Is Really A Very Subordinate Virtue-a Virtue, Indeed, In Which We Are Surpassed By The Lower Animals; Or Else You Would Not Hear People Say, As Brave As A Lion.
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Animal
People
Great Men Are Like Eagles, And Build Their Nest On Some Lofty Solitude.
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Greatness
Men
The Inexpressible Depth Of Music, So Easy To Understand And Yet So Inexplicable, Is Due To The Fact That It Reproduces All The Emotions Of Our Innermost Being, But Entirely Without Reality And Remote From Its Pain… Music Expresses Only The Quintessence Of Life And Its Events, Never These Themselves.
Pain
Reality
Depth
Every Nation Criticizes Every Other One - And They Are All Correct.
Criticize
Nations
What Disturbs And Depresses Young People Is The Hunt For Happiness On The Firm Assumption That It Must Be Met With In Life. From This Arises Constantly Deluded Hope And So Also Dissatisfaction. Deceptive Images Of A Vague Happiness Hover Before Us In Our Dreams, And We Search In Vain For Their Original. Much Would Have Been Gained If, Through Timely Advice And Instruction, Young People Could Have Had Eradicated From Their Minds The Erroneous Notion That The World Has A Great Deal To Offer Them.
Dream
Depressing
People
Music Is The Melody Whose Text Is The World.
Music
Wisdom
Philosophical
Reason Is Feminine In Nature; It Can Only Give After It Has Received.
Giving
Pessimism
Reason
It Is In The Treatment Of Trifles That A Person Shows What They Are.
Philosophical
Treatment
Trifles
Newspapers Are The Second Hand Of History.
Philosophical
Hands
Newspapers
It Is Difficult To Keep Quiet If You Have Nothing To Do
Keeping Quiet
Quiet
Difficult
As My Own Father Was Sick, And Miserably Tied To His Invalid's Chair, He Would Have Been Abandoned Had Not An Old Servant Performed For Him A So-called Service Of Love. My Mother Gave Parties While He Was Perishing In Solitude, And Amused Herself While He Was Suffering Bitter Agonies
Mother
Father
Party
Our Moral Virtues Benefit Mainly Other People; Intellectual Virtues, On The Other Hand, Benefit Primarily Ourselves; Therefore The Former Make Us Universally Popular, The Latter Unpopular.
Hands
People
Intellectual
A Man Of Business Will Often Deceive You Without The Slightest Scruple, But He Will Absolutely Refuse To Commit A Theft.
Business
Men
Deceiving
Dissimulation Is Innate In Woman, And Almost As Much A Quality Of The Stupid As Of The Clever.
Clever
Stupid
Quality
A Man Who Has No Mental Needs, Because His Intellect Is Of The Narrow And Normal Amount, Is, In The Strict Sense Of The Word, What Is Called A Philistine.
Men
Needs
Normal
We See In Tragedy The Noblest Men, After A Long Conflict And Suffering, Finally Renounce Forever All The Pleasure Of Life And The Aims Till Then Pursued So Keenly, Or Cheerfully And Willingly Give Up Life Itself.
Giving Up
Men
Long
The Bad Thing About All Religions Is That, Instead Of Being Able To Confess Their Allegorical Nature, They Have To Conceal It.
Able
Pessimism
Bad Things
To Expect A Man To Retain Everything That He Has Ever Read Is Like Expecting Him To Carry About In His Body Everything That He Has Ever Eaten.
Men
Body
Expecting
I Know Of No More Beautiful Prayer Than That Which The Hindus Of Old Used In Closing: May All That Have Life Be Delivered From Suffering.
Beautiful
Prayer
Suffering
Life Is Short And Truth Works Far And Lives Long: Let Us Speak The Truth.
Life
Philosophy
Long
Every Nation Ridicules Other Nations, And All Are Right.
Philosophical
Liberty
Libertarian
Where There Is No Love, A Person's Faithfulness To The Marriage Bond Is Probably Against Nature.
Chemistry
Faithfulness
Persons
Men Of Learning Are Those Who Have Read The Contents Of Books. Thinkers, Geniuses, And Those Who Have Enlightened The World And Furthered The Race Of Men, Are Those Who Have Made Direct Use Of The Book Of The World.
Book
Men
Race
Something Of Great Importance Now Past Is Inferior To Something Of Little Importance Now Present, In That The Latter Is A Reality, And Related To The Former As Something To Nothing.
Past
Reality
Littles
The Heavy Armor Becomes The Light Dress Of Childhood; The Pain Is Brief, The Joy Unending.
Pain
Light
Childhood
We Can Do What We Wish, But We Can Only Wish What We Must.
Wish
Can Do
Truth Is No Harlot Who Throws Her Arms Round The Neck Of Him Who Does Not Desire Her; On The Contrary, She Is So Coy A Beauty That Even The Man Who Sacrifices Everything To Her Can Still Not Be Certain Of Her Favors.
Sacrifice
Men
Desire
A Man Finds Himself, To His Great Astonishment, Suddenly Existing, After Thousands And Thousands Of Years Of Non-existence: He Lives For A Little While; And Then, Again, Comes An Equally Long Period When He Must Exist No More. The Heart Rebels Against This, And Feels That It Cannot Be True.
Heart
Men
Years
For An Author To Write As He Speaks Is Just As Reprehensible As The Opposite Fault, To Speak As He Writes; For This Gives A Pedantic Effect To What He Says, And At The Same Time Makes Him Hardly Intelligible.
Writing
Opposites
Giving
The Man Who Sees Two Or Three Generations Is Like One Who Sits In The Conjuror's Booth At A Fair, And Sees The Same Tricks Two Or Three Times. They Are Meant To Be Seen Only Once.
Men
Two
Three
Faith Is Like Love: It Does Not Let Itself Be Forced.
Like Love
Doe
The Scenes And Events Of Long Ago, And The Persons Who Took Part In Them, Wear A Charming Aspect To The Eye Of Memory, Which Sees Only The Outlines And Takes No Note Of Disagreeable Details. The Present Enjoys No Such Advantage, And So It Always Seems Defective.
Memories
Eye
Long Ago
It Is Only A Man's Own Fundamental Thoughts That Have Truth And Life In Them. For It Is These That He Really And Completely Understands. To Read The Thoughts Of Others Is Like Taking The Remains Of Someone Else's Meal, Like Putting On The Discarded Clothes Of A Stranger.
Confidence
Men
Clothes
Optimism Is Not Only A False But Also A Pernicious Doctrine, For It Presents Life As A Desirable State And Man's Happiness As Its Aim And Object. Starting From This, Everyone Then Believes He Has The Most Legitimate Claim To Happiness And Enjoyment. If, As Usually Happens, These Do Not Fall To His Lot, He Believes That He Suffers An Injustice, In Fact That He Misses The Whole Point Of His Existence.
Believe
Fall
Men
Wealth As Well As Sea Water. The More We Drink, The More Thirsty. The So Famous
Sea
Water
Wealth
No One Writes Anything Worth Writing, Unless He Writes Entirely For The Sake Of His Subject.
Writing
Sake
Subjects
If A Man Wants To Read Good Books, He Must Make A Point Of Avoiding Bad Ones; For Life Is Short, And Time And Energy Limited.
Book
Life Is Short
Men
Authors May Be Divided Into Falling Stars, Planets, And Fixed Stars: The First Have A Momentary Effect; The Second Have A Much Longer Duration; But The Third Are Unchangeable, Possess Their Own Light, And Work For All Time.
Stars
Fall
Light
Every New Born Being Indeed Comes Fresh And Blithe Into The New Existence, And Enjoys It As A Free Gift: But There Is, And Can Be, Nothing Freely Given. It's Fresh Existence Is Paid For By The Old Age And Death Of A Worn Out Existence Which Has Perished, But Which Contained The Indestructible Seed Out Of Which The New Existence Has Arisen: They Are One Being.
Free Gifts
Age
Reincarnation
All The Cruelty And Torment Of Which The World Is Full Is In Fact Merely The Necessary Result Of The Totality Of The Forms Under Which The Will To Live Is Objectified.
Facts
World
Ethics
You Can Do What You Will, But In Any Given Moment Of Your Life You Can Will Only One Definite Thing And Absolutely Nothing Other Than That One Thing.
Moments
Given
Absolutely Nothing
What A Person Is For Himself, What Abides With Him In His Loneliness And Isolation, And What No One Can Give Or Take Away From Him, This Is Obviously More Essential For Him Than Everything That He Possesses Or What He May Be In The Eyes Of Others.
Loneliness
Eye
Giving
The World Is My Representation
World
Representation
What Now On The Other Hand Makes People Sociable Is Their Incapacity To Endure Solitude And Thus Themselves.
Hands
People
Solitude
Pride Works From Within; It Is The Direct Appreciation Of Oneself.
Appreciation
Pride
Oneself
Man Is Never Happy, But Spends His Whole Life In Striving After Something Which He Thinks Will Make Him So.
Men
Thinking
Strive
Night Gives A Black Look To Everything, Whatever It May Be.
Night
Giving
Black
There Is Something In Us That Is Wiser Than Our Head.
Wiser
National Character Is Only Another Name For The Particular Form Which The Littleness, Perversity And Baseness Of Mankind Take In Every Country. Every Nation Mocks At Other Nations, And All Are Right.
Country
Character
Names
A Good Supply Of Resignation Is Of The First Importance In Providing For The Journey Of Life.
Life
Journey
Religion
That Arithmetic Is The Basest Of All Mental Activities Is Proved By The Fact That It Is The Only One That Can Be Accomplished By A Machine.
Machines
Facts
Arithmetic
Man Is The Only Animal Who Causes Pain To Others With No Other Object Than Wanting To Do So.
Pain
War
Animal
That A God Like Jehovah Should Have Created This World Of Misery And Woe, Out Of Pure Caprice, And Because He Enjoyed Doing It, And Should Then Have Clapped His Hands In Praise Of His Own Work, And Declared Everything To Be Very Good-that Will Not Do At All!
God
Religious
Hands
On The Path Of Actions, Great Heart Is The Chief Recommendation; On That Works, A Great Head.
Heart
Path
Action
When A New Truth Enters The World, The First Stage Of Reaction To It Is Ridicule, The Second Stage Is Violent Opposition, And In The Third Stage, That Truth Comes To Be Regarded As Self-evident.
Self
World
Firsts
The Common Man Is Not Concerned About The Passage Of Time, The Man Of Talent Is Driven By It.
Success
Time
Men
A Man Who Has Not Enough Originality To Think Out A New Title For His Book Will Be Much Less Capable Of Giving It New Contents.
Book
Men
Thinking
All Religions Promise A Reward Beyond Life, In Eternity, For Excellences Of The Will Or Heart, But None For Excellences Of The Head Or Understanding.
Heart
Understanding
Promise
There Are, First Of All, Two Kinds Of Authors: Those Who Write For The Subject's Sake, And Those Who Write For Writing's Sake.
Writing
Two
Sake
It Is A Clumsy Experiment To Make; For It Involves The Destruction Of The Very Consciousness Which Puts The Question And Awaits The Answer.
Suicidal
Answers
Consciousness
There Are Very Few Who Can Think, But Every Man Wants To Have An Opinion; And What Remains But To Take It Ready-made From Others, Instead Of Forming Opinions For Himself?
Men
Thinking
Want
Just As The Largest Library, Badly Arranged, Is Not So Useful As A Very Moderate One That Is Well Arranged, So The Greatest Amount Of Knowledge, If Not Elaborated By Our Own Thoughts, Is Worth Much Less Than A Far Smaller Volume That Has Been Abundantly And Repeatedly Thought Over.
Library
Research
Management
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