"I wouldn't hit him," said John Paul, answering the question about what he would do if a friend tried to take away something of his. "Because then he wouldnt be my friend. But I wouldn't let him take the thing either."There are some things in life you hold so dear you would never surrender them, no matter what the threat. Yet, you would happily give it to someone you love. Giving is infinitely more pleasurable than coercion.
The follow-up question to this answer had been, How would you stop him? So John Paul went right on without pausing. "The way I'd stop him is, I'd say, 'You can have it. I give it to you, it's yours now. Because I'd rather keep you as a friend than keep that thing.'"
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
book learning
It's interesting what you can learn from fiction books. Some people who write fiction use it as a canvass to showcase their philosophies about life. The passage below has always been one of my favourites. Orson Scott Card is one such writer, and this excerpt is taken from First Meetings : In the Enderverse. A recent experience really brought home the meaning to me.
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5 comments:
Hmm, if that thing was really precious and dear, then that would be a really huge sacrifice.
and then you would find out later that it was so not worth it:) (and yes i have found that out the hard way. sometimes it's better to not give coz u're going to lose the "friend: anyway)
it's a cool passage though.
-Annk
some people were never meant to be your friends. you don't "lose" them because you never really had them as a friend. just an illusion.
goodness, there seems to be a lot of cynicism floating around here!
but i am always appreciative of friends i can keep even as we both travel the world ;p
when i first read the passage, i thought it was quite encouraging, yes, we should give no matter what. then, after i read the first two comments, reality kicked in... they were right also, it's alright to give to real friends, not those pretended ones. if they are your real friends, they probably won't try to take things from you anyway... but yea, real friends, they can have everything (um, maybe most) that i have.
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