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…man is here for the sake of other men.
I came across this passage the other day that I found inspirational and thought I’d share it here.
“The ancients knew we all share a common fate.
They gathered around their hearths, their sacred fires, not to just remember those who had gone before, but to comfort each other in the face of their own inevitable journey.”
Einstein put it another way:
“Strange is our situation here upon earth. However, there’s one thing we do know: that man is here for the sake of other men. Above all, for those upon whose smile and well being, our own happiness depends. And also for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond of sympathy.”
A more correct statement should be of course …”people are here for the sake of other people”.
Art/music/literature is the “comfort” and the “bond of sympathy” we all need in our journey.
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9 Replies
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Mona and Lisa through their music, art, and everything they do are a powerful, beautiful beacon, lighting up the dark world. We count on MLT, and they can count on us too, we have their back on this musical journey.
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“The people that are trying to make the world worse never take a day off , why should I. Light up the darkness” – Bob Marley
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We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fishbowl year after year
Running over the same old ground What have we found?
The same old fears
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That’s my favourite part of Floyds “Wish You Were Here” JP!
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Well Jung, a profound topic. Here we are, sitting around the sacred fire, thinking about our own inevitable journey. Basically, you’re taking up the question of the meaning of life. Yes, we’re all in the same boat. Some row faster, some row slower, and some row in the wrong direction. Why we do it exactly, no one really knows. But it is a beautiful, transfigured idea that we do it to help each other and to be there for each other to achieve common goals. When I first asked myself the question about the meaning of all this, I was a teenager and I came to the conclusion that the meaning of life must lie in itself. So all that I do every day, what I make of my life, how I deal with other people, that gives my life a meaning. I don’t know how the „creed“ (Glaubensbekenntnis) of Albert Einstein is to be understood exactly, I find his terminology very old-fashioned, but I think he probably means that we humans are to be understood as part of a whole and as such also find fulfillment. By giving love, we can receive love and if we help each other, we will also receive help. And as long as we live we will always be dependent on other people, because we are part of it all.
What I see, feel and experience every day is only a small part of the world, my own idea of reality, my own little microcosm. We probably can’t change the world as it is, but we can make sure that the people in our microcosm feel comfortable, respect them, pamper them and make sure that we are all doing well. And I fully agree with you: sympathy is the bond that holds us together and empathy is the bond that unites us. The art of understanding, giving, forgiving and sometimes being selfless. And you are right: art, music and literature are essential threads of these two bands.
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Eloquently said Jurgen! Art expresses that sympathy and bond better than anything.
Great song. In many ways Bridge Over Troubled Waters and Count On Me share the same beautiful message.
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Perhaps Einstein’s statement could be translated as “and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.” (Hey, that would make a great song lyric!)
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Great point David! I wonder if John, Paul, George and Ringo ever thought of writing a song around those lyrics! ????
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I remember back in March/April of 2020 just after the WHO declared a global pandemic, the news was getting bleaker, the world was hurled into lock downs, people were losing their jobs, and fighting at Costco over toilet paper.
I recall a message from a local health minister on TV. He said “be kind to one another, we will get through this together”. As the pandemic makes it’s twists and turns today, and climate change concerns start to become more serious than ever, that message still resonates more than ever.
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