“I think of moral beauty as what is the good and the just - terms perhaps best defined by their opposite: evil. Evil is the willingness to do damage to the other; its maximal expression is murder, but it includes a great deal of subtle and not-so-subtle injuries as it advances to that extreme. Evil acts reduce the other to an object, a being to its component parts, and obliterate subjectivity. Evil's breeding ground is a lack of empathy.” ThinkingEvilTermDealsMoralObjectsExpressionEmpathyOppositesMurderExtremesDefinedDamageInjurySubtleWillingnessComponentsBreedingSubjectivityLack Of Empathy Author:C.E. Morgan
“Ultimately, I don't know if love is an organizing principle we choose or if it's innate. I'm not sure the distinction matters to me much anymore; I just care about how we can reduce unnecessary suffering. I think that means learning to love in both the micro and the macro; engaging in ethical action at the level of intimacy and friendship, but also at the vocational level through our chosen work in the world, our right livelihood.” IfsThinkingKnowsWorldMeanMatterCareActionSufferingLove IsLevelsPrinciplesChosenIntimacyNot SureDistinctionEthicalUnnecessaryEngagingInnateLivelihoodLearning To LoveMacroUnnecessary Suffering Author:C.E. Morgan
“I often think there are three primary responses to suffering - rage, intoxication, or growth. We either want revenge for our pain, or we numb ourselves with the endless array of intoxicants available to us, from drugs to overwork, or we grow in empathy. Emptiness can transform into spaciousness; lack can become an agent of social action. But I think many of us struggle to remain on that third path without backsliding into the other two. I do.” ThinkingWantTwoActionPainSufferingThreeSocialGrowsGrowthStrugglePathDrugEmpathyThirdsResponseAvailableRevengeRageEndlessAgentsPrimariesEmptinessNumbIntoxicationOverworkSocial ActionSpaciousnessBacksliding Author:C.E. Morgan
“I think the primary gift of the animal is offered to writer and non-writer alike; they teach us about love, or attunement, which is love in action. A lot of people have closer relationships with animals than they do with other humans, because real intimacy requires both parties to consistently lean in, and animals are so good at this. They remain consistently, amazingly attuned to us, even when we fail them, and so we stay present, because we sense we're safe.” PeopleThinkingHumansRealActionAnimalPartyTeachFailingSafeIntimacyPrimariesConsistently Author:C.E. Morgan
