So long as there is death there will be sorrow, and so long as there is sorrow it can be no part of the duty of human beings to increase its amount, in spite of the fact that a few rare spirits know how to transmute it.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- As long as death exists, sorrow will exist; it is not a duty to increase sorrow, though some rare individuals can transform it.
- In plain terms
- Death brings sorrow, but we shouldn't aim to increase it; some can turn sorrow into something else.
- What can you take from it?
- Avoid adding unnecessary suffering; seek to transform inevitable sorrow.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What does it mean to 'transmute' sorrow?
- How can we responsibly respond to inevitable grief?
Another view
The claim about rare spirits lacks clarification.
More from Bertrand Russell
Joy of life... depends upon a certain spontaneity in regard to sex. Where sex is repressed, only work remains, and a gospel of work for work's sake never produ…
Permalink to quote #110 In adolescence, I hated life and was continually on the verge of suicide, from which, however, I was restrained by the desire to know more mathematics. Now, on…
Permalink to quote #112 I am not suggesting that there should be no morality and no self-restraint in regard to sex, any more than in regard to food. In regard to food we have restrai…
Permalink to quote #109
Related quotes
'To take life,' went on the old man in a voice which, though charged with strong emotion, seemed to be speaking to itself, 'was the chief mark of the insensate…
John GalsworthyJohn Galsworthy quote #3 We tend to suffer from the illusion that we are capable of dying for a belief or theory. What Hagakure is insisting is that even in merciless death, a futile d…
Yukio MishimaYukio Mishima quote #6 Life is short and truth works far and lives long: let us speak the truth.
Arthur SchopenhauerArthur Schopenhauer quote #10