The 128 most classic philosophical essays in the world

Chapter 1 The True Essence of Life (Preface)

[US] Alexander Schindler
The art of life is only to advance and retreat at the right time and make a proper choice.Because life itself is a paradox: on the one hand, it makes us attached to the gifts of life; on the other hand, it also predestined our ultimate abandonment of these gifts.As the old teachers said: In life, you come with your fists clenched, and you leave with your hands spread out.

Life is so miraculous, every inch of this land of gods is soaked in beauty, of course we must hold on to it tightly.This, we know, and yet this is often only perceived in retrospect, and when we do, the good times are gone forever.

Withered beauty, lost love, engraved in our hearts.It is especially painful to recall that when that beauty was shining, we turned a blind eye; when that love was pouring out, we did not return Yuju.

One of the main points of the true meaning of life is to warn us not to just be so busy that we miss the admirable and respectable aspects of life.Piously await every dawn!Embrace every hour, seize every precious minute!

Treat life persistently, grasp life tightly, but can't grasp it too hard, and can't let go.The flip side of the coin of life is another gist of the paradox: we must accept "loss" and learn how to let go.

This teaching is not easy to accept.Especially when we are young, we think that the world will obey our orders, that the career we devote ourselves to pursue will be successful, but the reality of life is still coming to us step by step——so , this second truth emerges slowly but surely.

We gradually grow up in the process of experiencing "loss", and go through every stage of life. After losing the protection of our mother's womb, we come to this world and start an independent life; then we have to enter a series of schools, leave our parents and be full of childhood memories married, have children, and when the children grow up, they can only watch them fly away.We face the death of our parents and the death of our spouse; we face the gradual decline of our own energy; and finally we must face the inevitable death of ourselves--all our past lives, all the dreams of our lives will come to naught!

But why should we surrender to such contradictory demands of life?Why do we create beautiful things when we know that beauty cannot last forever?We know that the one we love is already out of reach, but why should we fill our hearts with love?

To unravel this paradox, we must seek a broader perspective, examining our lives through a window into eternity.Once this happens, we can realize that although life is finite, our "doings" in the world weave an eternal picture for it.

Life is not just a kind of survival as a creature, it is some unpredictable changes, and it is also an endless torrent.Our parents survive through us, and we survive through our children.What we build will last forever, and we ourselves will live forever through them.The beauty we choose will not disappear with our annihilation.Our hands will wither and our flesh will perish, but the truth, goodness and beauty we have created will last forever and be immortal.

Don't waste your life, pursue material things less and pursue ideals more.Because only ideals can give meaning to life, and only ideals can make life have eternal value.

(This article is part of Schindler's commencement speech at the University of South Carolina in May 1987, president of the American Jewish Federation.)
(End of this chapter)