“Death is certain, replacing both the siren-song of Paradise and the
dread of Hell. Life on this earth, with all its mystery and beauty and
pain, is then to be lived far more intensely: we stumble and get up, we
are sad, confident, insecure, feel loneliness and joy and love. There is
nothing more; but I want nothing more.” – Christopher Hitchens, The Portable Atheist
I'm ordering this book today...
I'm also enjoying this quote from Orwell, especially the "humanist attitude"...
“A normal human being does not want the Kingdom of Heaven: he wants life
on earth to continue. This is not solely because he is ‘weak,’ ‘sinful’
and anxious for a ‘good time.’ Most people get a fair amount of fun out
of their lives, but on balance life is suffering, and only the very
young or the very foolish imagine otherwise. Ultimately it is the
Christian attitude which is self-interested and hedonistic, since the
aim is always to get away from the painful struggle of earthly life and
find eternal peace in some kind of Heaven or Nirvana. The humanist
attitude is that the struggle must continue and that death is the price
of life.” – George Orwell, “Lear, Tolstoy and the Fool”
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