The Villain steps

The Villain steps always in darkness; the Hero, in shadows.

from Tagore's Gitanjali (Tagore)

64
On the slope of the desolate river among tall grasses I asked her, "Maiden, where do you go shading your lamp with your mantle? My house is all dark and lonesome—lend me your light!" She raised her dark eyes for a moment and looked at my face through the dusk. "I have come to the river," she said, "to float my lamp on the stream when the daylight wanes in the west." I stood alone among tall grasses and watched the timid flame of her lamp uselessly drifting in the tide.

In the silence of gathering night I asked her, "Maiden, your lights are all lit—then where do you go with your lamp? My house is all dark and lonesome—lend me your light." She raised her dark eyes on my face and stood for a moment doubtful. "I have come," she said at last, "to dedicate my lamp to the sky." I stood and watched her light uselessly burning in the void.

In the moonlight gloom of midnight I asked her, "Maiden, what is your quest holding the lamp near your heart? My house is all dark and lonesome—lend me your light." She stopped for a minute and thought and gazed at my face in the dark. "I have brought my light," she said, "to join the carnival of lamps." I stood and watched her little lamp uselessly lost among lights.

* * *

70
Is it beyond thee to be glad with the gladness of this rhythm? to be tossed and lost and broken in the whirl of this fearful joy?

All things rush on, they stop not, they look not behind, no power can hold them back, they rush on.

Keeping steps with that restless, rapid music, seasons come dancing and pass away—colours, tunes, and perfumes pour in endless cascades in the abounding joy that scatters and gives up and dies every moment.

Rabindranath Tagore, Gitanjali

One of the problems of fundamentalism (Asimov)

BILL MOYERS:  But once again, you are in conflict with a biblical imperative, "Be fruitful and multiply."

ISAAC ASIMOV:  Right. But God said that when Adam and Eve were the only two people in the world. He said, "Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth." The earth was replenished long ago. That's one of the problems of fundamentalism. Fundamentalists take a statement that made sense at the time it was made, and because they refuse to consider that the statement may not be an absolute, eternal truth, they continue following it under conditions where to do so is deadly.

Sometimes

Sometimes in order to do more you have to risk doing less.

excuses

Excuses are tedious.

People often argue

People often argue against the pursuit of "empty pleasures," yet I rarely see anyone choosing to decline them in favor of "full miseries." Surely a subtle gradient of satisfaction and enrichment is more realistic than such a stark, puritanical contrast.

The Man with a Corpse on His Back (Moss)

When you die to the old life
you must bury it well
or you'll stumble on
with the corpse of your old self
strapped to your back.

Bury it well and do your grieving.
Set right what can be set right
with those you hurt
and those who hurt you.
Give up the souls you've stolen.
Reclaim what was stolen from you.
Then walk on and don't look back.

Others will dig up your corpse.
Not only enemies and abandoned lovers
but your very best friends.
They'll exhume your bag of bones
and lash it to your shoulders
to prove you haven't changed.
You'll be dragged, down and back.
You'll need a second wake,
a second burial.

The grave-robbers will come for you
again and again
to chain you to your dead self
until you are changed so utterly
you can only be seen
by those who have changed their eyes.
You'll vanish into the sunlit spaces
where those who cling
to the ghost of what you were
can't find you anymore.

Robert Moss, The Man with a Corpse on His Back

In cognitive dissonance

In cognitive dissonance, somewhere, lies the soul.

Dig! What do you see? (Kazantzakis)

A command rings out within me: “Dig! What do you see?”
“Men and birds, water and stones.”
“Dig deeper! What do you see?”
“Ideas and dreams, fantasies and lightning flashes!”
“Dig deeper! What do you see?”
“I see nothing! A mute Night, as thick as death. It must be death.”
“Dig deeper!”
“Ah! I cannot penetrate the dark partition! I hear voices and weeping. I hear the flutter of wings on the other shore.”
“Don't weep! Don't weep! They are not on the other shore. The voices, the weeping, and the wings are your own heart.”

Nikos Kazantzakis

The first planet

The first planet humanity will have to terraform will be the Earth.