One of my favorite quotes, from "Boyhood with Gurdjieff" by Fritz Peters, pg 96:
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He went on, then, to say that life was a “two-edged sword.
“In your country, you think life is only for pleasure. You have saying in your country: “pursuit of happiness”, and this saying show that people not understand life. Happiness is nothing, is only other side of unhappiness. But in your country, in most of the world now, people only want happiness. Other things also important: suffering important because is also part of life, necessary part. Without suffering man cannot grow, but when you suffer, you think only of self, you feel sorry for self, wish not to suffer because this make you feel not comfortable, make you wish escape from thing that make you feel bad. When man suffer, he feel only self-pity. Not so if real man. Real man also sometimes feel happiness, real happiness; but when he also feel real suffering, he not try to stop this thing himself. He accept this because he know is proper to man. Must suffer to know truth about self; must learn suffer with will. When suffering comes to man must make intentional suffering, must feel with all being; must wish with such suffering that it will help make conscious; help to understand.
“You have only physical suffering, suffering of body because of pain in leg (Fritz had hurt his knee). This suffering also help if you know how to use for self. But this is suffering like animal, not important suffering. With other suffering, suffering in all self, is possibility understand that all people suffer this way, is possible also understand how depend on Nature, on other people, on everything, for help in life. Cannot live life alone.
Aloneness–not loneliness, which is bad thing–but aloneness can be good thing for man, very necessary for life, but also necessary learn not live alone because real life depend on other human being and not just on self. Now, you still boy, cannot understand what I talk–but remember thing; remember for time when you not thank me because I save life.” (Gurdjieff had returned just in time to treat Fritz's knee, which threatened his life through infection).
He went on, then, to say that life was a “two-edged sword.
“In your country, you think life is only for pleasure. You have saying in your country: “pursuit of happiness”, and this saying show that people not understand life. Happiness is nothing, is only other side of unhappiness. But in your country, in most of the world now, people only want happiness. Other things also important: suffering important because is also part of life, necessary part. Without suffering man cannot grow, but when you suffer, you think only of self, you feel sorry for self, wish not to suffer because this make you feel not comfortable, make you wish escape from thing that make you feel bad. When man suffer, he feel only self-pity. Not so if real man. Real man also sometimes feel happiness, real happiness; but when he also feel real suffering, he not try to stop this thing himself. He accept this because he know is proper to man. Must suffer to know truth about self; must learn suffer with will. When suffering comes to man must make intentional suffering, must feel with all being; must wish with such suffering that it will help make conscious; help to understand.
“You have only physical suffering, suffering of body because of pain in leg (Fritz had hurt his knee). This suffering also help if you know how to use for self. But this is suffering like animal, not important suffering. With other suffering, suffering in all self, is possibility understand that all people suffer this way, is possible also understand how depend on Nature, on other people, on everything, for help in life. Cannot live life alone.
Aloneness–not loneliness, which is bad thing–but aloneness can be good thing for man, very necessary for life, but also necessary learn not live alone because real life depend on other human being and not just on self. Now, you still boy, cannot understand what I talk–but remember thing; remember for time when you not thank me because I save life.” (Gurdjieff had returned just in time to treat Fritz's knee, which threatened his life through infection).
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