We thrust our fingers into our ears to stop its moan; but it was no good; the cry cut like a drill into our heads, dragging minutes into hours, hours into years. We withered and grew old between those cries.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the unavoidable nature of time and suffering, illustrating how we cannot escape the pain of existence.
Ernst Toller’s quote poignantly captures the idea that despite our attempts to ignore or silence the pain and suffering in our lives, it persists relentlessly. The vivid imagery of time stretching painfully emphasizes how enduring these cries of anguish can make us feel as though time itself is being warped, causing significant life change and aging, highlighting the importance of confronting rather than retreating from our struggles.
In practice
In a motivational speech about overcoming adversity, you might say, 'As Toller reminds us, ignoring pain doesn't make it disappear; we must confront it to truly live.'
What hands are here? ha! they pluck out mine eyes! Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red.” “My hands are of your colour; but I shame to wear a heart so white. A little water clears us of this deed: How easy it is then! Your constancy hath left you unattended.
I'd woken up early, and I took a long time getting ready to exist.
As to the fable that there are Antipodes, that is to say, men on the opposite side of the earth where the sun rises when it sets to us, men who walk with their feet opposite ours, that is on no ground credible. Even if some unknown landmass is there, and not just ocean, there was only one pair of original ancestors, and it is inconceivable that such distant regions should have been peopled by Adam's descendants.
America is made of different races and different religions, but we're all co-travelers on the spaceship Earth and must respect and help each other along the way.
Church practice has been more influenced by Plato than by Jesus. We invariably prefer the universal synthesis, the answer that settles all the dust and resolves every question even when it is not entirely true over the mercy and grace of God.
No 'we' should be taken for granted when the subject is looking at other people's pain.
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