The quest for knowledge is what makes humans survive, even if it hurts. I have trouble imagining that this minence grise was once a sixteen-year-old Hungarian boy in a death camp. Theres a troublesome verse from Ecclesiastes about this, he tells me. It says that the more we know, the more pain we have. But because we are human beings, this must be. Otherwise we become objects rather than subjects. He pauses for a moment to let this sink in. Of course, it hurts when we see pictures of people throwing themselves out of windows, children who are orphaned, the widows, Wiesel says. But there is no way out of what weve seen. And how do we live with what we know? I ask How can we live with not knowing?
About This Quote
About Mark Matousek, When You're Falling, Dive: Lessons in the Art of Living
Mark Matousek, When You're Falling, Dive: Lessons in the Art of Living.