In deference to such spectacular carnage it is perhaps perverse to dwell upon one person's death, but we are creatures so constituted that the passing of one friend or one acquaintance has a profounder effect that that of 100,000 strangers. If there is any metaphorical truth in the Jewish proverb that he who saves one life saves the whole world, then there is equal metaphorical truth in the proposition that when one person dies, the whole world dies with them.
Interpretation
The death of an individual affects us more deeply than the loss of many unknown strangers.
This quote reflects on the profound impact that the death of a single person can have on others, emphasizing our emotional connection to those we know and care about. It highlights the idea that while mass tragedies may evoke widespread concern, the personal loss of a friend or loved one resonates on a deeper, more intimate level, illustrating the value of individual lives and relationships in the larger context of humanity.
In practice
In a eulogy, to emphasize the impact of the deceased on those who loved them.
...but then the general trouble with ignorance is always that the ignorant person has no idea that that's what they are. You can be ignorant and stupid and go through your whole life without ever encountering any evidence against the hypothesis that you're a genius.
Love is a kind of dementia with very precise and oft-repeated clinical symptoms. You blush in each other's presence, you both hover in places where you expect the other to pass, you are both a little tongue-tied, you both laugh inexplicably and too long, you become quite nauseatingly girlish, and he becomes quite ridiculously gallant. You have also grown a little stupid.
When you fall in love, it is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake, and then it subsides. And when it subsides, you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots are become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part.
To be able to look life in the face: that's worth living in a garret for, isn't it?
When you're surfing you're not thinking about where you parked the car or what you're going to do when you grow up or what you're going to buy when you've got lots of money. You know, you're just there. You're in the moment. And I think in a contemporary world, that's a rare privilege.
You have to be able to make a real creative life for Yourself, before you can expect anyone Else to provide one ready-made for you.
Tears unnumbered ye shall shed.
Making a living and making a life sometimes point in opposite directions.
When I came home, my kids wouldn't know if I went 0-for-4 or 4-for-4. I do not like to lose at anything, but I wouldn't be angry all day... Once I left the stadium, it was over with.
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