Everyone deserves to be the hero of a novel.
William NicholsonRead
To put it another way, pain is God's megaphone to rouse a deaf world. Why must it be pain? Why can't he rouse us more gently, with violins or laughter? Because the dream from which we must be wakened, is the dream that all is well.
Interpretation
Pain serves as a powerful reminder to awaken us to reality.
This quote suggests that pain has a significant role in human experience, acting as a loud signal from a higher power to awaken us from a false sense of security and complacency. It implies that soft and gentle reminders are often ignored, and thus more intense experiences like pain are necessary to jolt us into awareness of our true circumstances and the importance of living authentically.
In practice
In a motivational speech about overcoming adversity.
Everyone deserves to be the hero of a novel.
I will call no being good who is not what I mean when I apply that epithet to my fellow creatures; and if such a creature can sentence me to hell for not so calling him, to hell I will go .
From joy people are born; for joy they live; in joy they melt at death. Death is an ecstasy, for it removes the burden of the body and frees the soul of all pain springing from body identification. It is the cessation of pain and sorrow.
One could only damage oneself through the harm one did to others. One could never get directly at oneself.
Everything in the world is beautiful, but Man only recognizes beauty if he sees it either seldom or from afar. Listen, today we are gods! Our blue shadows are enormous! We move in a gigantic, joyful world!
Freedom and slavery are mental states.
You know, I used to think it was awful that life was so unfair. Then I thought, wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair, and all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them? So, now I take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe.
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