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I agree with your point that it's all about perspective, but you can easily spin it negatively. "Life is suffering" -Buddha "Tedium is the worst pain" -Grende
by OnlineGladiator 7y ago
I agree with your point that it's all about perspective, but you can easily spin it negatively.
"Life is suffering" -Buddha
"Tedium is the worst pain" -Grendel
I realize that first quote is meant to be encouraging, but you can take it at face value to mean what it is: most of life sucks.
Pessimism and optimism are choices we make on how to interpret reality based on our experiences. This might sound like some feel-good comment that you can easily just see things better if you try to frame it differently but it's not. I am profoundly cynical and genuinely believe the world would be a better place if more people would replace their unfounded optimism with skepticism. Sometimes there really isn't a reason to be optimistic other than a desire to feel better about the situation.
- mikestew 7y agobut you can take it at face value to mean what it is: most of life sucks. Boy, howdy, have you misinterpreted the Buddha. I believe most would agree that in context, Buddha was saying, "Life is suffering because $REASONS. But it doesn't have to be, because $OTHER_REASONS." A vast oversimplification, yes, but I feel that it is a much more accurate representation of the quote.
- OnlineGladiator 7y agoIf that's the case you're right and I'm completely wrong about that quote. I don't pretend to be a Buddhist so you're more likely to be right than me. I have not bothered to verify this as of this writing. Another famous quote that everybody gets wrong because they cut it short: "Distance makes the heart grow fonder" That quote means separation is good for couples, but almost nobody knows the actual quote: "Distance makes the heart grow fonder for those nearer" This is saying distance destroys relationships and you will look for affection from someone who is available.
- SamBam 7y agoThe fact that there was an original version of a quote doesn't make the original version any more "true," so I've never quite understood the instinct of people to use it as some kind of gotcha. Indeed, if anything it seems like in general the opposite would be true, if common culture adapts a quote to more accurately fit their reality (irrespective of whether this particular quote is "true" or not). (Also, I can't find any source for your claim, despite plenty of articles on the source of the phrase, such as https://quotes.yourdictionary.com/articles/who-said-absence-makes-the-heart-grow-fonder.html https://quotes.yourdictionary.com/articles/who-said-absence-..., so I'm guessing that's a myth.)
- OnlineGladiator 7y agoWell shit :) I didn't mean it as a gotcha, just that people will mangle quotes to support whatever idea they're trying to argue. Ironically it seems I have accidentally done the same thing.
- mrmonkeyman 7y agoPlease don't use "irrespective".
- PsylentKnight 7y agoThe actual quote from who? That sounds like something that was retroactively added - like how people say the full version of "Great minds think alike" is actually "Great minds think alike, small minds rarely differ." It's an aphorism. There is no definitive source.
- monktastic1 7y ago"Life is suffering" is not something the Buddha ever said: https://fakebuddhaquotes.com/life-is-suffering/ https://fakebuddhaquotes.com/life-is-suffering/ He did say that we turn much of life into suffering by our unwise reaction to it.
- arc_of_descent 7y agoPain is inevitable, suffering is optional.