Going to do a series of shorter reflections on aphorisms for a while so that I can focus on other writing, once I get back into a schedule I'll be doing more. Until mid-week next week I'm going to be doing just one a day, and then perhaps even a tad longer than that.
Aphorism 20
"I believe the best definition of man is the ungrateful biped."
Dostoevsky, quoted in The Viking Book of Aphorisms
Interpretation
Dostoevsky is probably one of my favorite writers. Carl Jung trash talked the writers of philosophical novels in his book Modern Man In Search of a Soul (Amazon affiliate link), arguing that they explained too much. On the contrary, I believe that philosophical novelists like Dostoevsky and Tolstoy represent valuable insights to how we feel about ourselves.
Human ingratitude is a common idea. We are limited in many ways by an inability to appreciate. Some of this is only natural. Gratitude must be learned. My experience working with children has taught me this. There is also the fact that what we consider to be good for us is not always good for us, and that what is considered to be harmful may actually be quite beneficial. We make for ourselves images of our own reality.
The problem is that we are idolators. We never truly consider what we need instead worship what seems to bring a satisfaction. Most of the time this is sufficient. After all, satisfaction often is tied to something good, at least in a first-order effect. If we eat we will no longer be hungry. However, the world is not simple.
The exact point at which our ability to appreciate breaks down may very well be unique to each individual some people besides themselves bemoaning the consequences of something they once believed to be good, feeling deceived and tricked by reality itself. Others, incapable of appreciating the immediate effect, never pay attention to what they have. The truth, painful as it is, is the I have seen very few people who are truly happy in every sense of the word. I believe this to tie directly to the problem at hand.
My life
I have learned as an adult to be that much more thankful for what I have. I've been fortunate enough to avoid the worst deprivations known to people but also I have learned to see what I have rather than what I do not have.
This does not mean I never want anything, and I can't claim to be a savvy consumer who never wastes money on things that wind up being unfulfilling, but it does mean that what I want does not feel like a necessity.
There was a time when entitlement was a buzzword. It may still be, I simply do not expose myself to so much foolishness as I did in my youth. I think that's a great antidote believing that the Universe owes you something is to remember what you've might not have. I am a fan of the stoics. Sometimes I find myself to be a better member of their company than others, but key lesson that I have is that you are responsible for how you feel much of modern martyrdom is elective. There is no rule or oppression that holds most of us down. It is only ourselves.
Resolution
Appreciate what I have.
Do not envy.
Tear down idols in my life.
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