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Quote by Dag Hammarskjöld

“It makes one's heart ache when one sees that a man has staked his soul upon some end, the hopeless imperfection and futility of which is immediately obvious to everyone but himself. But isn't this, after all, merely a matter of degree? Isn't the pathetic grandeur of human existence in some way bound up with the eternal disproportion in this world, where self delusion is necessary to life, between the honesty of the striving and the nullity of the result? That we all—every one of us—take ourselves seriously is not merely ridiculous.”

Quote by Dag Hammarskjöld

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Markings: Spiritual Poems and Meditations

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Dag Hammarskjöld

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“We humans love telling each other stories. . . we've done just that in caves, and in amphitheaters, and in the Globe, and in kitchens around campfires, and in the trenches. Every culture, every country, every type pf person in the world tell stories. They've been whispered and sung and written down on scraps of paper and they always, always been an indelible part of our very humanity.”

“Why should we place Christ at the top and summit of the human race? Was he kinder, more forgiving, more self-sacrificing than Buddha? Was he wiser, did he meet death with more perfect calmness, than Socrates? Was he more patient, more charitable, than Epictetus? Was he a greater philosopher, a deeper thinker, than Epicurus? In what respect was he the superior of Zoroaster? Was he gentler than Lao-tsze, more universal than Confucius? Were his ideas of human rights and duties superior to those of Zeno? Did he express grander truths than Cicero? Was his mind subtler than Spinoza’s? Was his brain equal to Kepler’s or Newton’s? Was he grander in death – a sublimer martyr than Bruno? Was he in intelligence, in the force and beauty of expression, in breadth and scope of thought, in wealth of illustration, in aptness of comparison, in knowledge of the human brain and heart, of all passions, hopes and fears, the equal of Shakespeare, the greatest of the human race?”

“The events happening in our life are random, we attach meaning to them, give reasons to justify why it happened, to save ourselves from drowning into madness. What compels me to make peace with this truth is the injustice that prevails all over the world, in private or public sphere. I don’t think if there is a God, amongst us or in Heaven, He will silently tolerate the pain and suffering of good, let them be massacred ruthlessly, while the evil flourishes and prospers. In this hopeless world where everything seems meaningless, the intended hope of religion to provide stability, contentment, and harmony has failed, and it itself lead the whole existence into unending vicious cycle of hatred and chaos.”

“Are we not the ambassadors of this truth that we humans are fundamentally equal and no human being is superior to another on the basis of caste creed or religion or language . Upholding these values that to speak truth is important, to lie is a sin, not to kill an innocent life, striving for peace, upholding the human dignity, and cherishing the differences with honor, and finally believing that our God is one. Our creator is one. He has to be one. We are one family.”