Repurposing Quotes

“Friedrich Nietzsche, who famously gave us the ‘God is dead’ phrase was interested in the sources of morality. He warned that the emergence of something (whether an organ, a legal institution, or a religious ritual) is never to be confused with its acquired purpose: ‘Anything in existence, having somehow come about, is continually interpreted anew, requisitioned anew, transformed and redirected to a new purpose.’

This is a liberating thought, which teaches us to never hold the history of something against its possible applications. Even if computers started out as calculators, that doesn’t prevent us from playing games on them. (47) (quoting Nietzsche, the Genealogy of Morals)”
― Frans de Waal, The Bonobo and the Atheist: In Search of Humanism Among the Primates

“My stove is old. My wallpaper is old. It's the same wallpaper from when I moved here and I never changed it. Why would I change it? I just keep it clean. If you take better care of things, you can hold onto them longer. That's how I still run things. If it works, I keep it. If it doesn't, I see if I can use it for something else. If I can't, and I usually can, I toss it.”
― Clara Cannucciari, Clara's Kitchen: Wisdom, Memories, and Recipes from the Great Depression

“Rather than waste or eliminate items which you don’t currently use, discover a new way to improve and enjoy their value. What strengths and talents can you repurpose for a new endeavor? How can you re-purpose your thoughts to ensure they help you rather than hinder?”
― Susan C. Young

“There always exists a context that is capable of reproposing as new a codified catachresis or dead metaphor.”
― Umberto Eco, Semiotics and the Philosophy of Language