WHOO another good use for my newfangled notes system! —— Recently noted and good: “Perfectionism may look good in his shiny shoes but he’s a little bit of an asshole and no one invites him to their pool parties.” - Ze Frank “Traveling is like flirting with life. It’s like saying, ‘I would stay and love you, but I have to go.’ “ - Lisa St Aubin de Téran “The best way to overcome it [the fear of death]—so at least it seems to me—is to make your interests gradually wider and more impersonal, until bit by bit the walls of the ego recede, and your life becomes increasingly merged in the universal life. An individual human existence should be like a river: small at first, narrowly contained within its banks, and rushing passionately past rocks and over waterfalls. Gradually the river grows wider, the banks recede, the waters flow more quietly, and in the end, without any visible break, they become merged in the sea, and painlessly lose their individual being. The man who, in old age, can see his life in this way, will not suffer from the fear of death, since the things he cares for will continue. And if, with the decay of vitality, weariness increases, the thought of rest will not be unwelcome. I should wish to die while still at work, knowing that others will carry on what I can no longer do and content in the thought that what was possible has been done.” - Betrand Russel —— Less recent, but great: “Just because you’re winning a game doesn’t mean it’s a good game.” - Seth Godin “Only live with what you've done, and try in the future to only do what you're happy to live with. That's the whole game, soak, that's all there is." - Carl Marsalis In Thirteen by Richard K. Morgan “The more polarized an issue gets, the more its consequences become secondary to the desire to have your camp win.” - Lilliana Mason “Civilizations die from suicide, not from murder.” - Toynbee
I'm finding myself caught up on the more impersonal aspect of this quote. What do you think Russel meant with that?...gradually wider and more impersonal...
My impression is that it has to do with the role of one's ego in life, considering the sentences that follow. I think that a large part of getting older and wiser is to better understand your place in the universe as merely one small part of an impersonal universe, as opposed to feeling like you're the center of the universe. I think we hold way to dearly on to the idea that it is only our experience that matters. So I interpret "impersonal" as less about oneself or one person. "We insist on ourself as individual agents in the world - it is the story we trap ourselves in."
Let's take it apart. He's talking about overcoming the fear of a personal death -- the death of your own ego, being, memory, identity. If one is afraid of death, one is afraid of ceasing to be. One asks, "How can the world exist without me?" It's kind of unimaginable. So, it seems Russell is talking about losing your personal identity and having the Zen hotdog: One with Everything. How can you fear death if you experience yourself as part of everything? He says as much in the last sentence. It sounds possible in theory. On the other hand, one could "Rage, rage, against the dying of the light."The best way to overcome it [the fear of death]—so at least it seems to me—is to make your interests gradually wider and more impersonal, until bit by bit the walls of the ego recede, and your life becomes increasingly merged in the universal life.
Since you asked --