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About this quote

What does it mean?
Existence is portrayed as an endless struggle under the gaze of a capricious deity.
In plain terms
We suffer continuously because a god enjoys playing with us.
What can you take from it?
Accept that struggle is inherent in existence.

Where it applies

  • philosophical reflection
  • literary analysis
  • personal hardship

Putting it to work

  • analyze power dynamics
  • question divine purpose
  • endure hardship

Questions to consider

  • Why does suffering persist?
  • Is freedom possible?

Another view

It assumes a malevolent deity exists without proof.

More from Samuel Beckett

  1. At no moment do I know what I'm talking about, nor of whom, nor of where, nor how, nor why, but I could employ fifty wretches for this sinister operation and s…

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  2. What a joy to know where one is, and where one will stay, without being there. Nothing to do but stretch out comfortably on the rack, in the blissful knowledge…

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  3. Dear incomprehension, it's thanks to you I'll be myself, in the end.

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