“To be a human being among people and to remain one forever, no matter in what circumstances, not to grow despondent and not to lose heart,” Dostoyevsky wrote to his brother, “that’s what life is all about, that’s its task.”), Camus adds:
"What counts is to be human and simple. No, what counts is to be true, and then everything fits in, humanity and simplicity. When am I truer than when I am the world?… What I wish for now is no longer happiness but simply awareness… I hold onto the world with every gesture, to men with all my gratitude and pity. I do not want to choose between the right and wrong sides of the world, and I do not like a choice… The great courage is still to gaze as squarely at the light as at death. Besides, how can I define the link that leads from this all-consuming love of life to this secret despair?… In spite of much searching, this is all I know."
Nice AV. I love all the quotes from the Rebel and beyond. One of my all time fav books. One of my fav lines from it albeit a little dated in some of the terms he uses: '...man is still not recognizable to man." The world being what it is, your call to action is a breath of fresh air. Thx.
"Man is still not recognizable to man." The quote does encapsulate what's happening in the world right now, where everyone is out for themselves. Thank you for sharing that and for reading. How do you think people could contribute to the world being a little bit better?
Camus: why are communists in whatever form or sub group, always soooo unrealistic?? Yet they tend to be more hypocritical than noble in their own lives, and usually violent, vile, and miserable sots? 😔
Highly idealistic and highly unrealistic. How would you have “reformed” Nazis even Hitler, or true believer communists like Lenin, Stalin, or Mao? How would you do that with Osama Bin Laden? Or Yayah Sinwar? These are the types of human mindsets that unfortunately you cannot reform. They are, by their own choices and whatever brought them into and they this world in this way, what they are. And they need to be fought against. How unrealistic to think that fighting in any form is and must always be fair? Life isn’t so why should you think that fighting, and killing, is or can be made to be truly fair? It isn’t. Innocent people, even children, will be killed in such situations and innocence lost by troops that must carry it out. We draw our lines to be sure, which is good, but to draw them too finely, to “nobly” and unrealistically is to be self-defeating and to set up a worse psychological situation for those involved (troops, civilians, etc.) It also implies a disastrous end. It allows evil to succeed and goodness to die. And it wears people out to the point they start giving up on goodness. LIVE LIFE ON LIFE’S TERMS, which means sometimes you will have to do things you don’t want to do, just to make people stop. Granted, at extremis, but your “equivalency” is merely another form of endless escalation. A loosing self defeating battle with evil.
This post, not only is great, it's also relevant in our decayed society.
This part: “The procedure of beauty, which is to contest reality while endowing it with unity, is also the procedure of rebellion…In upholding beauty we prepare the way for the day of regeneration when civilization will give first place—far ahead of the formal principles and degraded values of history—to this living virtue on which is found the common dignity of man and the world he lives in, and which we now must define in the face of a world that insults it.”
Reminded me the Dostoevsky's quote: Beauty will save the world.
That’s a great ? AV. Could take a while to answer but Camus say something along the lines of “If the duration of history is not synonymous with the duration of the harvest, then history, in effect, is no more than a fleeting and cruel shadow in which man has no more part.”. This idea has been on my mind for quite some time. That idea coupled with Camus idea about living without an appeal to some creation creation myth that goes too far, so far that it, they attempt to explain everything even eternity and how that can cripple a part of what’s most beautiful about humans—consciousness. All that said, I often think about eternal ethics and values that are grounded in what is certain—this earth, the short duration of our lives, an indifferent universe which seems a benign cradle for our unique situation here on earth—and how to close a d get rid of creation myths that seem childish and puerile fantasy and focus on taking care of our earth and all people and ensuring the continuation of, at a minimum, our earth and all species for as long as possible…as we spin into the eternal. Perhaps, after all that, provide stories suggesting some of the values I’ve tried to espouse….what do you say AV?
“To be a human being among people and to remain one forever, no matter in what circumstances, not to grow despondent and not to lose heart,” Dostoyevsky wrote to his brother, “that’s what life is all about, that’s its task.”), Camus adds:
"What counts is to be human and simple. No, what counts is to be true, and then everything fits in, humanity and simplicity. When am I truer than when I am the world?… What I wish for now is no longer happiness but simply awareness… I hold onto the world with every gesture, to men with all my gratitude and pity. I do not want to choose between the right and wrong sides of the world, and I do not like a choice… The great courage is still to gaze as squarely at the light as at death. Besides, how can I define the link that leads from this all-consuming love of life to this secret despair?… In spite of much searching, this is all I know."
To be true and humane. Thank you for sharing Gary.
Nice AV. I love all the quotes from the Rebel and beyond. One of my all time fav books. One of my fav lines from it albeit a little dated in some of the terms he uses: '...man is still not recognizable to man." The world being what it is, your call to action is a breath of fresh air. Thx.
"Man is still not recognizable to man." The quote does encapsulate what's happening in the world right now, where everyone is out for themselves. Thank you for sharing that and for reading. How do you think people could contribute to the world being a little bit better?
Very well constructed. I enjoyed reading it.
Camus: why are communists in whatever form or sub group, always soooo unrealistic?? Yet they tend to be more hypocritical than noble in their own lives, and usually violent, vile, and miserable sots? 😔
Highly idealistic and highly unrealistic. How would you have “reformed” Nazis even Hitler, or true believer communists like Lenin, Stalin, or Mao? How would you do that with Osama Bin Laden? Or Yayah Sinwar? These are the types of human mindsets that unfortunately you cannot reform. They are, by their own choices and whatever brought them into and they this world in this way, what they are. And they need to be fought against. How unrealistic to think that fighting in any form is and must always be fair? Life isn’t so why should you think that fighting, and killing, is or can be made to be truly fair? It isn’t. Innocent people, even children, will be killed in such situations and innocence lost by troops that must carry it out. We draw our lines to be sure, which is good, but to draw them too finely, to “nobly” and unrealistically is to be self-defeating and to set up a worse psychological situation for those involved (troops, civilians, etc.) It also implies a disastrous end. It allows evil to succeed and goodness to die. And it wears people out to the point they start giving up on goodness. LIVE LIFE ON LIFE’S TERMS, which means sometimes you will have to do things you don’t want to do, just to make people stop. Granted, at extremis, but your “equivalency” is merely another form of endless escalation. A loosing self defeating battle with evil.
This post, not only is great, it's also relevant in our decayed society.
This part: “The procedure of beauty, which is to contest reality while endowing it with unity, is also the procedure of rebellion…In upholding beauty we prepare the way for the day of regeneration when civilization will give first place—far ahead of the formal principles and degraded values of history—to this living virtue on which is found the common dignity of man and the world he lives in, and which we now must define in the face of a world that insults it.”
Reminded me the Dostoevsky's quote: Beauty will save the world.
An eye opening post. Keep it up Antonius!
That’s a great ? AV. Could take a while to answer but Camus say something along the lines of “If the duration of history is not synonymous with the duration of the harvest, then history, in effect, is no more than a fleeting and cruel shadow in which man has no more part.”. This idea has been on my mind for quite some time. That idea coupled with Camus idea about living without an appeal to some creation creation myth that goes too far, so far that it, they attempt to explain everything even eternity and how that can cripple a part of what’s most beautiful about humans—consciousness. All that said, I often think about eternal ethics and values that are grounded in what is certain—this earth, the short duration of our lives, an indifferent universe which seems a benign cradle for our unique situation here on earth—and how to close a d get rid of creation myths that seem childish and puerile fantasy and focus on taking care of our earth and all people and ensuring the continuation of, at a minimum, our earth and all species for as long as possible…as we spin into the eternal. Perhaps, after all that, provide stories suggesting some of the values I’ve tried to espouse….what do you say AV?
Thank you for reading Murray!