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For everyone, for anyone, for someone...

True@1stLight

True@1stLight

New Member
"Still and all, why bother? Here's my answer. Many people need desperately to receive this message: I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone."

-Kurt Vonnegut

More often than not, at one time or another, everyone could use this.....
 
Well you can't just quote the beginning or it becomes apathetic! It would be the equivalent of giving up, the opposite of what he is trying to say!!

I mean when it gets bad enough that you are cynical about a cynics hopeful quote! huff. :rolleyes:
 
Hear, hear, sir!

are you kidding? how can i become a cynics?

But,don't you think the quote you put down here seems to be too broad or something? i think there are people who want a SOLUTION. :confused:
plus, i think the quote is more of a perception/ a viewpoint. well, thinking too much isnt' good at all, and i now see that. :(

Please don't get mad at me. I, er...
 
A solution to what, watercrystal? Life? LOL!

That's quite simple, but seldom done. The solution to life is "choice." Life is what you make of it. Your decisions in every movement of every day can create an entire new reality. Take the money for the rent and hop a plane. Walk out of your house with only the clothes on your back and never look back. Go -- do -- live. Even that old standby, "Your money or your life", is a choice.

But you're probably asking for a solution within the boundaries you've set for your life, huh? :( Yeah, that seems to be what everyone wants. That part is harder. It makes one weary to exist. It's why the last part of the quote is so useful. "You are not alone."
 
Too many people try to find meaning and purpose for their lives from an external source when they have the abililty to do it themselves......

In my opinion, outside sources simply allow us to reflect on what we already posess. The more time you look for answers to your life in other places, be it literature, science, or religion, the farther you will get from yourself, and the more you'll become the idea of someone else.

~True
 
Cathy C said:
The solution to life is "choice." Life is what you make of it. Your decisions in every movement of every day can create an entire new reality. Take the money for the rent and hop a plane. Walk out of your house with only the clothes on your back and never look back. Go -- do -- live.
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you might not agree with this, but I'll say it anyway. the freedom to choose isn't freedom at all. it inevitably leads to contradiction, which brings about violence (both physical and psychological), because choice in every form is friction. your biases, fears, sorrows, remembered joys, and all the knowledge you've accrued in life have created neural patterns in your brain, which slowly hard-wire themselves over time, until you're programmed like a computer. you torture your mind by making it mechanical. like true said, if you have to look somewhere for answers, it means first you're caught in a prison.
 
outside sources simply allow us to reflect on what we already posess. The more time you look for answers to your life in other places, be it literature, science, or religion, the farther you will get from yourself, and the more you'll become the idea of someone else.

one has a purpose in himself. is that what it is supposed to mean?
 
bobbyburns said:
you might not agree with this, but I'll say it anyway. the freedom to choose isn't freedom at all. it inevitably leads to contradiction, which brings about violence (both physical and psychological), because choice in every form is friction. your biases, fears, sorrows, remembered joys, and all the knowledge you've accrued in life have created neural patterns in your brain, which slowly hard-wire themselves over time, until you're programmed like a computer. you torture your mind by making it mechanical. like true said, if you have to look somewhere for answers, it means first you're caught in a prison.
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Ah, but see -- this goes into a "nature vs. nurture" argument, bobby. I believe in "nature". Therefore, nurturing doesn't hardwire itself, and outside influences can usually override biases, fears, sorrows, etc., if compelling enough. :)

Cathy
 
Cathy C said:
Ah, but see -- this goes into a "nature vs. nurture" argument, bobby. I believe in "nature".

Cathy
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Nature v. nurture is a false dichotomy. Clearly nature/nurture are complementary and ideally in balance. How can you believe in one over the other? That implies that you think compassionate or malicious people are born not taught, and all the ideas that go along the same lines.

Regarding choice, having too many choices causes people a lot of stress. Most people are happier with less choice, though intellectually they might argue in favor of more choice. They don't want to decide what deodorant to buy, where to go on vacation, or whether to send their kid to the better public school ten miles away. That feeling of having to choose, in fact, feels nothing like freedom. It's more akin to anxiety.

BTW, True, I don't buy the Vonnegut quote. Why the need to believe that other people want the same thing, whatever that is? We are all alone. That's okay, though. Some of us just refuse to believe it. I think there's peace in accepting it, which goes somewhat to what bobby is talking about, I think.
 
That implies that you think compassionate or malicious people are born not taught
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Yep. :) It can be nudged by nurturing one way or the other, but a gentle person can seldom be moved to violence despite training, and malicious people alway have to struggle against it despite training.

I can tell from your tone that you don't agree, so we'll let it lie, I think...

Cathy
 
lahondas said:
i dont get what this forums about? hmmm
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Don't let the name "The Book Forum" fool you. I would say it's about everything, and thats probably a good things since most of the time I see a thread about a book or an author I go who, what, how ...? :eek: have to read more.

And if you just mean this thread I'll have to say I have absolutly no idea.

Hay

PS. Although I have no idea what this thread is about I still got to post a reply.. yeah :rolleyes:
 
lahondas said:
i dont get what this forums about? hmmm
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The thread is just about an idea--see the first post. Then it became about a couple of more ideas. Basically, if you read the Vonnegut quote in the first post and it inspires you to say something, that's what it's about.
 
novella said:
BTW, True, I don't buy the Vonnegut quote. Why the need to believe that other people want the same thing, whatever that is? We are all alone. That's okay, though. Some of us just refuse to believe it. I think there's peace in accepting it, which goes somewhat to what bobby is talking about, I think.
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But that's just the point, it's part of the dichotomy. If we are in fact all alone, then it also implies at the same time we aren't. Everyone would then share in the fact that we are alone, thereby giving us company. This is why I believe not that we always are like other people in our desires, but that it is silly to believe you are unique in your lonliness.

Also, I'm not sure how suddenly Bobby and I were moved to opposing sides of this??

Lastly, Lahondas, out of everyone on this site, you are questioning the purpose of a thread?? Really ? I was hoping to incite a spin off discussion from something one of my favorite authors quoted, it has succeeded, that's all.
 
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