pt.8: ON PHILOSOPHY (TRAINING FOR DEATH)
THE PLAYERS AND THEIR ARGUMENTS
And so, Camus said: Virtue cannot separate itself from reality without becoming a principle of evil. Thus, the absurd
is the essential concept and the first truth.
What is happiness except the simple harmony
between a man and the life he leads?
But ah, mon cher, for anyone who is alone, without God
and without a master, the weight of days is dreadful
For if there is a sin against life,
it consists perhaps not so much in despairing of life
as in hoping for another life
and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this life
as the world is never quiet, even its silence eternally resounds
with the same notes, in vibrations which escape our ears.
As for those that we perceive, they carry sounds to us,
occasionally a chord, never a melody. Think of that song:
the Gods had condemned Sisyphus to ceaselessly rolling a rock
to the top of a mountain,
whence the stone would fall back of its own weight.
They had thought with some reason
that there is no more dreadful punishment
than futile and hopeless labour. We are all special cases.
But the struggle itself towards the heights is enough
to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.
Therefore, I would rather live my life as if there is a God
and die to find out there isn't, than live as if there isn't
and to die to find out that there is.
Yet the pragmatist beckons me onwards and says:
only a philosophy of eternity, in the world today,
could justify non-violence
and to assert in any case that a man must be absolutely cut off from society because he is absolutely evil amounts to saying that society
is absolutely good,
and no-one in his right mind will believe this today.
Thus, I can say, with confidence, that the modern mind
is in complete disarray.
Knowledge has stretched itself to the point where
neither the world nor our intelligence can find any foothold.
It is a fact that we are suffering from nihilism.
To abandon oneself to principles is really to die –
and to die for an impossible love which is the contrary of love.
And still, men are never really willing to die
except for the sake of freedom:
therefore they do not believe in dying completely.
While other men are convinced of your arguments,
your sincerity, and the seriousness of your efforts
only by your death
We continue to shape our personality all our life.
If we knew ourselves perfectly, we should die.
For in order to exist just once in the world,
it is necessary never again to exist.
So, do not wait for the last judgment – it takes place every day.
Death is freedom, and freedom is nothing but a chance to be better.
And still man is the only creature that refuses to be what he is,
He who despairs of the human condition is a coward,
but he who has hope for it is a fool.
Man wants to live, but it is useless to hope
as this desire will dictate all his actions.
A taste for truth at any cost is a passion which spares nothing
And a man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world.
But even so, you will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life: living and death are one in the same.
(Luke 6:20)
And all the people were trying to touch Him, for power was coming from Him and healing them all. And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. "Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
(Luke 9:43)
While he was still approaching, the demon slammed him to the ground and threw him into a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy and gave him back to his father. And they were all amazed at the greatness of God But while everyone was marvelling at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples, "Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men."
(Luke 12:22)
“So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." And He said to His disciples, "For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. "For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.
And so, I said:
Alas you ask, a final time, the question burning in your mind
who am I?
this speaker who has been your ever so faithful guide
To this question of identity, I answer with brevity:
You to I, like Zeus to Athena
have birthed me: as I, having leapt from your mind
you figured my being, I, but your creation
I am your avatar: your seat at the table
a reservation, on the shoulders of giants.
The council turns, they all face me now.
I turn to you, with a smile.
and you said:
