“If you feel pain, you are alive. If you feel another’s pain, you are human.” Leo Tolstoy
What does it matter to me when there is a war on the other side of the earth?
Very sad. Quite tragic. Sorry to hear about it. But it isn’t my war.
What does it matter when there is an earthquake on the other side of the earth
That kills as many people as live in most small towns?
Tragic. I feel so sorry for them. What a shame!
Should I buy a hot tub?
We really should install track lighting in the dining room.
What does it matter that a child is hungry on the other side of the earth?
After all, such people shouldn’t have so many children.
Well, it matters, I suppose. But really, they always have problems there.
If it is on the other side of the world, I can’t see it
So, it doesn’t exist. It doesn’t matter.
Of ir it does matter, it isn’t my problem.
If it appears on the screen, I can change the channel,
And relax by watching a zombie apocalypse.
The human condition is so tragic, but it is not my condition.
Well, perhaps that is the real tragedy.
Because there are humans and then there is me.
My indifference means that I am not human, but some other kind of creature.
But if I see the things I would rather not see
It will make me human,
And those things will matter to me.
The empty stomach of a child will become an emptiness in my heart
The empty hand of another, will matter when it touches my hand.
And fullness of soul is when other souls matter.
Beauty of face is not in an expensive cream,
But in seeing the beauty of another human face in our eyes.
And the best defense against aging is a maturity that is so young
That it sees itself in the hungry child
And you both matter a little more.
And you both are undeniably human.
Perhaps human evolution means becoming more human.
And the discovery of the amount of room in the human heart
Is our next great discovery.
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