Friday, February 05, 2010

Rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairness...


There is a pleasure in the pathless woods
There is a rapture on the lonely shore
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar;
I love not man the less, but Nature more...
(Lord Byron)


And I also know how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong but to feel strong. To measure yourself at least once. To find yourself at least once in the most ancient of human conditions. Facing the blind death stone alone, with nothing to help you but your hands and your own head.


I will miss you too, but you are wrong if you think that the joy of life comes principally from the joy of human relationships. God's place is all around us, it is in everything and in anything we can experience. People just need to change the way they look at things.


It should not be denied that being footloose has always exhilarated us. It is associated in our minds with escape from history and oppression and law and irksome obligations. Absolute freedom. And the road has always led west.


I'm going to paraphrase Thoreau here... rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairness... give me truth.


Happiness only real when shared.