Solzhenitsyn's Abiding Relevance (FB)

Solzhenitsyn: "Don't be Afraid of Misfortune"

"… What about the main thing in life, all its riddles? Do not pursue what is illusionary ---property and position: all that is gained at the expense of your nerves decade after decade, and is confiscated in one fell night.

Live with a steady superiority over life ---don't be afraid of misfortune, and do not yearn for happiness; it is, after all, all the same: the bitter doesn't last forever, and the sweet never fills the cup to overflowing.

It is enough if you don't freeze in the cold and if thirst and hunger don't claw at your insides. If your back isn't broken, if your feet can walk, if both arms can bend, if both eyes can see, if both ears hear, then whom should you envy? And why? Our envy of others devours us most of all.

Rub your eyes and purify your heart -and prize above all else in the world those who love you and who wish you well...After all, you simply do not know: it may be your last act before your arrest, and that will be how you are imprinted on their memory.”

― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956

Solzhenitsyn certainly knew both grave misfortune, and that it does not last forever. Nevertheless he refused to reduce his life to a selfish quest for ephemeral personal happiness, choosing instead the spiritual interests of us all. This is the lesson of Alexander Solzhenitsyn for us today. We must never forget. And we must pass it on to our children. Man lives not by bread alone.--- Solzhenitsyn's Abiding Relevance, FB

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The abiding relevance of the life, writings, and warnings of Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Edited by Stephen Hand