120 philosophical essays you must read in your life

Chapter 125

Chapter 7 Section 11 Why Do I Live

[UK] Russell
Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and a poignant pity for the suffering of men.These passions, like wild winds, tossed me here and there in a sea of ​​deep anguish that stretched me to the verge of despair, and made my life directionless.I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy - ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of life for a few hours of this joy.I have sought it, next, because it relieves loneliness--that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss.

I have sought it, also because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystical miniature, the prefiguring vision of the Heaven that saints and poets have imagined; and that is what I have sought.Although human life does not seem worthy of it, it is something that at last I have found.

I pursue knowledge with equal passion.I have tried to understand the human mind, I have wanted to understand why the stars shine, and I have tried to understand the power of Pythagoras, and I have succeeded in this a little, but not much.

Love and knowledge always lead upward to heaven as long as they exist, but pity suffers from famine, the innocent are tortured by the oppressor, the helpless old man becomes a hateful burden in the eyes of his son, and loneliness abounds everywhere in the world , poverty, and misery—these are a mockery of human life.I long to reduce sin, but I can't, so I suffer too.

This is my life.I think this life is worth living.If it were really possible to give me another chance, I would gladly live it all over again.

A western philosopher accidentally found a statue of a "double-faced god" in the ruins of ancient Rome.Although the philosopher has learned from ancient and modern times, he was very unfamiliar with this god, so he asked the statue: "Excuse me, god, why do you have one head and two faces?"

The double-faced god replied: "Because in this way, we can look at the past on the one hand to learn lessons; on the other hand, we can look forward to the future to give people hope."

"But why don't you focus on the most meaningful present?" The philosopher asked, "Now?" The double-faced god was at a loss.

The philosopher said: "The past is the passing of the present, and the future is the continuation of the present. If you ignore the present, even if you know the past well, what is the point of gaining insight into the future?" Weeping loudly, it turned out that he didn't grasp the "now" before the city of Rome was captured by the enemy, so he was abandoned in the ruins.

【Together with you】

A noble soul, with the goal of changing the sorrow of human beings.A life of pilgrimage to beautiful things will always find the source of strength in love.A brain that accepts beauty and desires to think upwards will strive to advance towards the palace of knowledge.

Among the many forces affecting the progress of human civilization, these three simple but strong desires have played a vital role.A beautiful and complete life should provide energy for the torch of human civilization.The eternal measure of greatness and smallness is whether or not what one does makes sense.Perhaps, 1 years is too long, we are only fighting for the day and night.Going to life and making new friends will give new value to our life and add new joy.

(End of this chapter)