When you tire of living, change itself seems evil, does it not? for then any change at all disturbs the deathlike peace of the life-weary.
Walter M. Miller, Jr.Read
Listen, my dear Cors, why don't you forgive God for allowing pain? If He didn't allow it, human courage, bravery, nobility, and self-sacrifice would all be meaningless things.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that pain is essential for the development of human virtues.
Walter M. Miller, Jr. expresses that suffering and pain are necessary experiences in life that give rise to important qualities such as courage, bravery, nobility, and the capacity for self-sacrifice. Without the presence of pain, these virtues would lack significance and depth, implying that adversity is a catalyst for personal growth and moral strength.
In practice
During a motivational speech to inspire resilience in the face of challenges.
You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you, and allowing that goodness to emerge. But it can only emerge if something fundamental changes in your state of consciousness.
Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves. But deep down below the surface of the average conscience a still, small voice says to us, something is out of tune.
Cultivate the habit of early rising. It is unwise to keep the head long on a level with the feet.
Any critic is entitled to wrong judgments, of course. But certain lapses of judgment indicate the radical failure of an entire sensibility.
Wise to resolve, patient to perform.
It's hard to practice compassion when we're struggling with our authenticity or when our own worthiness is off-balance.
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