Althouse: "You can hold back from the suffering of the world. You have free permission to do so and it is in accordance with your nature."

April 20, 2009

"You can hold back from the suffering of the world. You have free permission to do so and it is in accordance with your nature."

"But perhaps this very holding back is the one suffering you could have avoided."

Hey, RLC is blogging again.

Beginning — after 2 years of holding back — with that Kafka quote.

26 comments:

Bissage said...: But perhaps this very holding back is the one suffering you could have avoided.

That is true as a general rule, no doubt. But in my particular case, I’ve found that not even misery loves my company. It is for this reason that I suffer like Jesus on the cross.; 4/20/09, 1:04 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/20/09, 1:09 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Our works in stone, in paint, in print, are spared, some of them, for a few decades or a millennium or two, but everything must finally fall in war, or wear away into the ultimate and universal ash - the triumphs, the frauds, the treasures and the fakes. A fact of life: we're going to die. "Be of good heart," cry the dead artists out of the living past. "Our songs will all be silenced, but what of it? Go on singing." Maybe a man's name doesn't matter all that much.

O.W.; 4/20/09, 1:20 PM
traditionalguy said...: Love thy neighbor, said the Hebrew Prophet to the Lawyer. Loving a suffering stranger requires a big faith spelled R I S K and the exercise our free will to love. Could that opportunity be the real purpose for our lives here on this planet, since accidental chemical combinations, or something, created Human life here?; 4/20/09, 1:40 PM
Jennifer said...: I guess it's that time. I just started up again this weekend after a few year hiatus, as well. Not with Kafka, but with Zanotti.; 4/20/09, 1:42 PM
rhhardin said...: but everything must finally fall in war, or wear away into the ultimate and universal ash

Mathematical physics triumphs in the end.; 4/20/09, 1:47 PM
Anonymous said...: Wow - cute ex-husband...
cute future husband...

Riches...; 4/20/09, 1:53 PM
Richard Lawrence Cohen said...: !!

Thanks, Ann.; 4/20/09, 2:06 PM
ricpic said...: Contra The Female Principle

The suffering of the world is of no concern
And should be of no concern
To a man in the grip of the passion to do, to make.
What matters is the passion to do, the passion to make.
Compared to that the world's suffering is a pittance to be spurned.; 4/20/09, 2:19 PM
Trooper York said...: He must feel it's safe now.; 4/20/09, 2:21 PM
Joan said...: He (re)started here.

It's quite charming. I hope "Reforesting" doesn't mean what it seems to mean.; 4/20/09, 2:24 PM
Bissage said...: Refrosting means you left your cake out in the rain, with all the sweet green icing flowing down, and it’s time to start over.; 4/20/09, 3:05 PM
traditionalguy said...: RLC is an interesting writer. He just needs to add Purple Trees or other scenery photos to give a down to earth flavor to his Blog. That is especially attractive to Commenters who spend all day inside the house.; 4/20/09, 6:47 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: These are the treads that try Titus soul ;); 4/20/09, 7:19 PM
traditionalguy said...: Titus has not commented here since March. Do you think he is healthy, but a little irritated by that attack Titus day a few months ago? He is missed. Or has he been in an accident? Titus come home!; 4/20/09, 7:51 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: attack Titus day !? what are you talking about?; 4/20/09, 7:59 PM
traditionalguy said...: Lem... You don't want to see that days comments.; 4/20/09, 8:12 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: He must feel it's safe now.; 4/20/09, 8:17 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I heard that hes at Trooper these days.

Maybe we need to put out an Amber Alert ;); 4/20/09, 8:20 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Oh, I remember.

That was the night they started a blog-out? or some such thing.

Althouse was treveling that day... (little did we know then).; 4/20/09, 8:25 PM
traditionalguy said...: I recall something about Ann issuing a Titus comments CD. That was before the CD for this year morphed into "Love Under The Cincinnati Sun." Perhaps that man/ woman commitment affected Titus' creativity. It will come back.; 4/20/09, 8:34 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I feel like uncle Leo - Titus never said goodby :(; 4/20/09, 8:45 PM
Unknown said...: Oh, please, don't. I mean, I know he wasn't as much a pain the ass as Jeremy-Michael-LuckyOlson, but for goodness' sake I am beyond relieved not to have to read about his bodily functions on a daily basis.; 4/20/09, 9:20 PM
Penny said...: Sports save marriages? How odd. Course I suppose it might be because sports have a tendency to SEPARATE the sexes when they would be expected to spend more time together...like weekends. Less time together, less time to argue.

Gee that sounded cynical. Let me put that another way. I suppose it could be because it is healthy for couples to have separate interests.; 4/21/09, 2:31 AM
Penny said...: Did anyone see the recent research results on the correlation between the brightness of your smile on your last school picture, and the incidence of divorce? The less intense the smile, the greater the chance for divorce.

Pull your pictures out and report back.; 4/21/09, 2:40 AM
Nichevo said...: Wait, there was an Attack Titus Day and I missed it? OH NOES!!!1!; 4/21/09, 3:22 AM