To the dumb question, 'Why me?' the cosmos barely bothers to return the reply, 'Why not?'
Interpretation
Life is often arbitrary, and questioning our circumstances can be pointless.
In this quote, Christopher Hitchens reflects on the absurdity of asking 'Why me?' in response to the challenges or misfortunes one faces in life. The cosmos, or the universe, shows indifference to our suffering, suggesting that there is no inherent reason why one person should escape hardship while another does not. It emphasizes the randomness of existence and encourages acceptance of our circumstances without seeking justification.
In practice
During a motivational speech about resilience, one might quote Hitchens to illustrate how we deal with life's unpredictability.
In a public dialogue with Salman in London he [Edward Said] had once described the Palestinian plight as one where his people, expelled and dispossessed by Jewish victors, were in the unique historical position of being 'the victims of the victims': there was something quasi-Christian, I thought, in the apparent humility of that statement.
What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
Never ask while you are doing it if what you are doing is fun. Don't introduce even your most reliably witty acquaintance as someone who will set the table on a roar.
[E]xceptional claims demand exceptional evidence.
The worst days are when you feel foggy in the head - chemo-brain they call it. It's awful because you feel boring. As well as bored. And stupid. And resigned.
Let me tell you something: for hundreds of thousands of years, this kind of discussion would have been impossible to have, or those like us would have been having it at the risk of our lives. Religion now comes to us in this smiley-face, ingratiating way β because itβs had to give so much more ground and because we know so much more. But youβve got no right to forget the way it behaved when it was strong, and when it really did believe that it had God on its side.
MATERIAL, adj. Having an actual existence, as distinguished from an imaginary one. Important.
Cool, logical, big-eared and level-headed, the center of Star Trek's optimistic, inclusive vision of humanity's future. I loved Spock.
I thought of Chatterton, the marvellous boy, The sleepless soul that perished in his pride; Of him who walked in glory and in joy, Following his plough, along the mountain-side. By our own spirits we are deified; We Poets in our youth begin in gladness, But thereof come in the end despondency and madness.
I don't know what happens when people die_x000D_ _x000D_ Can't seem to grasp it as hard as I try_x000D_ _x000D_ It's like a song I can hear playing right in my ear_x000D_ _x000D_ That I can't sing_x000D_ _x000D_ I can't help listening
Alone, even doing nothing, you do not waste your time. You do, almost always, in company. No encounter with yourself can be altogether sterile: Something necessarily emerges, even if only the hope of some day meeting yourself again.
The world leans on us. When we sag, the whole world seems to droop.
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