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Quote by Josef Škvorecký

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Josef Škvorecký

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“Will said softly, warningly, in the Old Speech, “The Dark will come for you.” There was a pause. Then very slowly the Walker turned his shaggy grey head back again, and Will flinched in horror as he saw the face. For just a moment, its history was naked upon it. There were bottomless depths of pain and terror in the eyes, the lines of black experience were carved clear and terrible; this man had known somewhere such a fearful dread and anguish that nothing could really ever touch him again. His eyes wide for the first time, stretched open, with his knowledge of horror looking out. The Walker said emptily, “The Dark has already come for me.”

SufferingTortureDetailThe Dark Is Rising
Author:Susan Cooper
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“Another example of the same attitude, this time on a less cosmic and more humble scale, comes from the life of the warrior-poet Egil Skallagrimsson. According to his saga, toward the end of his life, one of his sons died, after the others had died before him. Such was the depth of Egil's grief that he planned to kill himself, but his surviving daughter convinced him instead to use his poetic talent to compose a memorial poem for his lost children. Egil's poem is called The Wreck Of Sons (Sonatorrek). In it, Egil bemoans his lot in life and curses Odin, his patron god, for having made him suffer so much. But Egil finds that this suffering has also carried a gift within it, for his anguish inspires him to compose better poetry than ever before. He lets loose an eloquent cry of both despair and joy, or at least contented acceptance. The final three stanzas read: I offer nothing With an eager heart To the greatest of gods, The willful Odin. But I must concede That the friend of the wise Has paid me well For all my wounds. The battle-tested Foe of the wolf Has given me A towering art, And wits to discern In those around me Who wishes well, Who wishes ill. Times are dire, Yet glad is my heart, Full of courage, Without complaint. I wait for the goddess Of dirt and of death Who stands on the headland To bear me away.”

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Book:The Viking Spirit: An Introduction to Norse Mythology and Religion
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“When we suffer for good, we become good from inside and then our sufferings come to an end because we start deriving pleasure in suffering for a good cause. Such transformation brings permanent joy in our life because we not only enjoy the pleasures, which are available to all human beings due to our basic instincts, but we can also enjoy the pain that is detested by people.”

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Book:31 Ways to Happiness
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