Luca

“So, the only use of God is to confirm innocence, and to my mind religion is more a great laundering operation, which is what it was, briefly, for barely three years, and at the time it wasn’t called religion. Since then, there’s been no soap left, our noses are dirty and we’ve been blowing them for one another.”
― albert camus

“The Buddha famously said that life is suffering. I’m not a Buddhist, but I know what he meant and so do you. To exist in this world, we must contend with humiliation, broken dreams, sadness, and loss. That’s just nature. Each specific life comes with its own personalized portion of pain. It’s coming for you. You can’t stop it. And you know it. In response, most of us are programmed to seek comfort as a way to numb it all out and cushion the blows. We carve out safe spaces. We consume media that confirms our beliefs, we take up hobbies aligned with our talents, we try to spend as little time as possible doing the tasks we fucking loathe, and that makes us soft. We live a life defined by the limits we imagine and desire for ourselves because it’s comfortable as hell in that box. Not just for us, but for our closest family and friends. The limits we create and accept become the lens through which they see us. Through which they love and appreciate us. But for some, those limits start to feel like bondage, and when we least expect it, our imagination jumps those walls and hunts down dreams that in the immediate aftermath feel attainable. Because most dreams are. We are inspired to make changes little by little, and it hurts. Breaking the shackles and stretching beyond our own perceived limits takes hard fucking work—oftentimes physical work—and when you put yourself on the line, self doubt and pain will greet you with a stinging combination that will buckle your knees.”
― David Goggins, Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds

“– And Zarathustra ran and ran and found no one else and was alone and found himself again and again and enjoyed and relished his solitude and thought of good things– for hours on end. But around the hour of midday, when the sun stood directly over Zarathustra’s head, he was passing an old crooked and gnarled tree that had been embraced by the rich love of a grape-vine and was thus hidden from itself: and from this vine an abundance of yellow grapes hung down toward the wanderer. He then felt a desire to slake a slight thirst and to pluck for himself a grape; but even as he was reaching out his arm to do this, he felt a greater desire for something else: namely, to lie down beside the tree, around the hour of perfect midday, and to sleep.
This Zarathustra did; and no sooner was he lying on the ground, in the stillness and secrecy of the colourful grasses, than he forgot his slight thirst and fell asleep. For, as Zarathustra’s saying goes: One thing is more necessary than another.* Only his eyes remained open: for they were not tired of seeing and admiring the“This Zarathustra did; and no sooner was he lying on the ground, in the stillness and secrecy of the colourful grasses, than he forgot his slight thirst and fell asleep. For, as Zarathustra’s saying goes: One thing is more necessary than another.* Only his eyes remained open: for they were not tired of seeing and admiring the tree and the love of the vine. But in falling asleep Zarathustra spoke thus to his heart: ‘Still! Still! Did the world not just become perfect?* But what is happening to me?”
― Fredrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra

“In this world, who can do a thing, will not; And who would do it, cannot, I perceive: Yet the will’s somewhat — somewhat, too, the power — And thus we half-men struggle. At the end, God, I conclude, compensates, punishes.”
― Robert Browning, Andrea del Sarto