Now that I'm suffering, I feel closer to people who suffer more than I ever did before. The other night, on TV, I saw people in Bosnia running across the street, getting fired upon, killed, innocent victims....and I just started to cry. I feel their anguish as if it were my own. I don't know any of these people. But - how can I put this? I'm almost......drawn to them.
Interpretation
Suffering can create a deeper connection to the pain of others.
Morrie Schwartz reflects on how personal suffering enables him to empathize with the suffering of others, particularly innocent victims in dire circumstances. This profound connection highlights the universal nature of pain and the bonds that can form through shared human experiences, even with those who are strangers.
In practice
In a speech advocating for humanitarian aid, you could use this quote to highlight the importance of empathizing with those who suffer.
People are only mean when they're threatened… and that's what our culture does. That's what our economy does. Even people who have jobs in our economy are threatened, because they worry about losing them. And when you get threatened, you start looking out only for yourself. You start making money a god. It is all part of this culture.
The best way to deal with that is to live in a fully conscious, compassionate, loving way. Don't wait until you're on your deathbed to recognize that this is the only way to live.
Do the kind of things that come from the heart, When you do, you won't be dissatisfied, you won't be envious, you won't be longing for somebody else's things. On the contrary, you'll be overhelmed with what comes back
It’s natural to die. The fact that we make such a big hullabaloo over it is all because we don’t see ourselves as part of nature. We think because we’re human we’re something above nature.
When you look at it that way, you can see how absurd it is that we individualize ourselves with our fences and hoarded possessions.
Because if you've found meaning in your life, you don't want to go back. You want to go forward.
People are not as nice as they used to be. There used to be a time when we conversed. You don't get a lot of real responses now. They used to be more polite and well-mannered people, generally. It's minimal now.
I work for him despite his faults and he lets me work for him despite my deficiencies.
I love living around black people. Home is home. We suffer under racism and the physical deprivations that come with that, but beneath that, we form cultures and traditions that are beautiful.
You can be totally rational with a machine. But if you work with people, sometimes logic often has to take a backseat to understanding.
People complain not because something sucks. People complain because they're looking for empathy and to feel connected with those around them. Unfortunately, complaining is maybe the least useful way to connect with other human beings.
Sex lies at the root of life, and we can never learn to reverence life until we know how to understand sex.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.