Happiness is not a reward – it is consequence.
Suffering is not a punishment – it is a result.
~ Robert Green Ingersoll
How's that for turning one's thinking inside out and upside down?
I don't know about you, but I nearly always think of consequences as negatives, and results as positive. And certainly happiness is positive and suffering is negative.
But here's this Ingersoll guy suggesting exactly the opposite.
I have some more thinking to do about this one, but so far I like it. In general, I like being challenged to see the world in a different light. Life isn't black or white, it's a thousand shades of grey. Just because we've always done something a particular way doesn't necessarily make it the best way, does it? (I'm thinking of YOU, U.S. health "care" system! Because I went to a PNHP meeting last night.)
What say you?
1 comment:
Very interesting quote and definitely worth some thinkin' - needs time to sink in, but like you, I have always thought of consequences as negative and results as generally positive - although I've come to realize I'm just a generally negative person, so I don't ALWAYS think of results as positive. :-)
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