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.
Our greatest foes, and whom we must chiefly combat, are within.
When forced to choose, I will not trade even a night's sleep for the chance of extra profits.
If you want to stay in for the long haul, and lead a life that is free from illusions either propagated by you or embraced by you, then I suggest you learn to recognize and avoid the symptoms of the zealot and the person who knows he is right. For the dissenter, the skeptical mentality is at least as important as any armor of principle.
Clever talk can confound the workings of virtue, just as small impatiences can confound great projects.
There is a level of grief so deep that it stops resembling grief at all. The pain becomes so severe that the body can no longer feel it. The grief cauterizes itself, scars over, prevents inflated feeling. Such numbness is a kind of mercy.
Silver and gold are not the only coin; virtue too passes current all over the world.
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