@Chaoschick,
Chaoschick wrote:
This is my favorite quote/passage from Moby Dick:
"Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off - then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. This is my substitute for pistol and ball. With a philosophical flourish Cato throws himself upon his sword; I quietly take to the ship. There is nothing surprising in this. If they but knew it, almost all men in their degree, some time or other, cherish very nearly the same feelings towards the ocean with me."
LOVE THIS!!!!!! So Strongly Written..... It just so true.
It is about like Nietzsche's commentary on Socrates, and his offer of a Cock to that god who cured illness, as if life were illness... It is also a reminder of the conclusion of one writer that many would kill themselves if they did not consider what the neighbors might think... As if that might matter... But; Going to Sea is certainly a middle course, for there is nothing like the water, both life and death for all of us, and to surrender oneself to fate out of a dark depression one cannot bear to bring to its conclusion on their own, -is no less than the drama all of humanity is playing out scene by scene, unable to escape the death wish, unable to admit we are all the playthings, collectively of our own pathology... As Hemingway suggested, we are the only animal conscious of our own deaths, but this does not inspire us to mercy for all the beasts we kill, (including each other, and if possible, all of humanity)... To live is to hate life and fear death... What place does God and the love of God have in this agony???God does not help in this, but only adds to our suffering... The thought of life beyond life, of the possibility of forgiveness, of God as venegeance all justify the evil we do... Nothing of God makes man better than the animals we are... Our only hope is wisdom...
