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'In essence, what Nietzsche is saying is this: the things we long to do and accomplish - the kind of person we might hope to become - are in fact within reach. But the path to each of those goals has this difficulty to it: it is a path that involves suffering, annoyance with oneself, disappointment, envy and frustration. He is saying that it is always through such pains that good things emerge. They do not occur as matters of spontaneous luck. Looking on from the outside at what we admire (a successful person) we see the effect. But we do not usually also get the chance to closely observe the evolutionary history. We don't see the nights of anguish, the fears, the insecurity. Such insight, however, is strangely heartening. It helps us to see that suffering is not a sign of failing to be the best version of oneself, but a necessary part of the process of becoming who we want to - and should - be.'
p. 18
John Armstrong, 2013, Life lessons from Nietzsche, Macmillan, London.
kid to do list, list, Be happy and go home, a photo by Carissa GoodNCrazy on Flickr.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/life/the-10-commandments-for-atheists-20130205-2dw83.html#ixzz2LrPWqQgS
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Resilience: Keeping going even when things are looking dark.
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Empathy: The capacity to connect imaginatively with the sufferings and unique experiences of another person.
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Patience: We should grow calmer and more forgiving by being more realistic about how things actually happen.
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Sacrifice: We won't ever manage to raise a family, love
someone else or save the planet if we don't keep up with the art of
sacrifice.
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Politeness: Politeness is closely linked to tolerance, -the
capacity to live alongside people whom one will never agree with, but at
the same time, cannot avoid.
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Humour: Like anger, humour springs from disappointment, but it is disappointment optimally channelled.
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Self-awareness: To know oneself is to try not to blame others
for one's troubles and moods; to have a sense of what's going on inside
oneself, and what actually belongs to the world.
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Forgiveness: It's recognising that living with others is not possible without excusing errors.
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Hope: Pessimism is not necessarily deep, nor optimism shallow.
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Confidence: Confidence is not arrogance - rather, it is based
on a constant awareness of how short life is and how little we will
ultimately lose from risking everything.
Spirit Wish, a photo by juliejordanscott on Flickr.
'We prescribe for one another remedies that will bring us peace of mind, and we are still devoured by anxiety.
We evolve plans for disarmament and for the peace of nations, and our plans only change the manner and method of aggression.
The rich have everything they want except happiness, and the poor are sacrificed to the unhappiness of the rich.
Dictatorships use their secret police to crush millions under an intolerable burden of lies, injustice and tyranny, and those who still live in democracies have forgotten how to make good use of their liberty.
For liberty is a thing of the spirit, and we are no longer able to live for anything but our bodies.
How can we find peace, true peace, if we forget that we are not machines for making and spending money, but spiritual beings ... ?'
Thomas Merton, 2008, Choosing to love the world, Sounds True, Boulder, Co.
