Bertrand Russell:
Three passions have governed my life:
The longings for love, the search for knowledge,
And unbearable pity for the suffering of [humankind].
Love brings ecstasy and relieves loneliness.
In the union of love I have seen
In a mystic miniature the prefiguring vision
Of the heavens that saints and poets have imagined.
With equal passion I have sought knowledge.
I have wished to understand the hearts of [people].
I have wished to know why the stars shine.
Love and knowledge led upwards to the heavens,
But always pity brought me back to earth;
Cries of pain reverberated in my heart
Of children in famine, of victims tortured
And of old people left helpless.
I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot,
And I too suffer.
This has been my life; I found it worth living.
adapted
Nadine Stair (attributed, probably erroneously):
If I had my life to live over, I'd dare to make more mistakes next time.
I'd relax; I'd limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip.
I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances. I would
climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream
and less beans. I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I'd have
fewer imaginary ones.
You see, I'm one of those people who lived sensibly and sanely hour
after hour, day after day. Oh, I had my moments, and if I had to do it
over again, I'd have more of them. In fact, I'd try to have nothing
else. Just moments, one after the other, instead of living so many years
ahead of each day. I've been one of those persons who never goes
anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat, and a
parachute. If I had it to do over again, I would travel lighter than I
have.
If I had my life to live over again, I would start barefoot earlier in
the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more
dance; I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies.
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