A couple of months ago i recieved via my work e-mail account a rather curious message. It was titled as: Tech Support requested update, but when i opened it i found a quote from Faulkner. I really liked the tone of the message and it was one of those strange moments of synchronicity where something seemingly random coincided with events at the time in order to make it seem profound. Anyway, here's the body of the quote;
I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you might forget it now and then for a moment and not spend all your breath trying to conquer it. Because no battle is ever won he said. They are not even fought. The field reveals to a man his own folly and despair, and victory is an illusion of philosophers and fools.
William Faulkner
The Sound and the Fury
I think it impressed on me that the desire to win can sometimes be counterproductive, blinding you to other possibilities. I also like the flipside of that, meaning that if the concept of winning in those circumstances is irrelevant then surely you can also never lose. There are also the time aspects to the statement, the whole thing seems to tie in with some eastern philosophies of allowing yourself to be taken along for the ride, allowing yourself to flow with the river rather than trying to control your passage over it.
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3 comments:
Keep in mind that there is a certain danger to letting yourself go with the flow of things. A person has to exert some power of choice if he/she wants the outcome to be favourable. Some think it is about fine balance in life, I think it has more to do with centrifugal force.
Ok, i think that's a fair point. I didnt mean to espouse complete inaction as a way of life. I don't think i'd have ended up where i am without the desire to affect positive change on my own life. I think however it is worth looking at some things and realising that it's fruitless (and in some circumstances counterproductive) to try and force your will onto them. I think it's about picking battles, or mixing metaphors i'm not entirely sure.
Noted ;)
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