To the dumb question, 'Why me?' the cosmos barely bothers to return the reply, 'Why not?'
Interpretation
Life is often arbitrary, and questioning our circumstances can be pointless.
In this quote, Christopher Hitchens reflects on the absurdity of asking 'Why me?' in response to the challenges or misfortunes one faces in life. The cosmos, or the universe, shows indifference to our suffering, suggesting that there is no inherent reason why one person should escape hardship while another does not. It emphasizes the randomness of existence and encourages acceptance of our circumstances without seeking justification.
In practice
During a motivational speech about resilience, one might quote Hitchens to illustrate how we deal with life's unpredictability.
In a public dialogue with Salman in London he [Edward Said] had once described the Palestinian plight as one where his people, expelled and dispossessed by Jewish victors, were in the unique historical position of being 'the victims of the victims': there was something quasi-Christian, I thought, in the apparent humility of that statement.
What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
Never ask while you are doing it if what you are doing is fun. Don't introduce even your most reliably witty acquaintance as someone who will set the table on a roar.
[E]xceptional claims demand exceptional evidence.
The worst days are when you feel foggy in the head - chemo-brain they call it. It's awful because you feel boring. As well as bored. And stupid. And resigned.
Let me tell you something: for hundreds of thousands of years, this kind of discussion would have been impossible to have, or those like us would have been having it at the risk of our lives. Religion now comes to us in this smiley-face, ingratiating way β because itβs had to give so much more ground and because we know so much more. But youβve got no right to forget the way it behaved when it was strong, and when it really did believe that it had God on its side.
Be ahead of all parting, as though it already were behind you.
Memory isn't a theme; it's part of the human condition.
Europe is the unfinished negative of which America is the proof.
I urge you to read Eternal Treblinka and think deeply about its important message.
It is true that we aspire to our ancient land. But what we want in that ancient land is a new blossoming of the Jewish spirit.
Ultimately, I don't really want to see the media portraying curvier and fatter bodies being the norm, I want to see a variety of bodies of all shapes, sizes, colors, and orientations, all of the time just like we do in reality.
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