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.
Chaos is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence.
He who is by nature not his own but another's man is by nature a slave.
If all sentient beings in the universe disappeared, there would remain a sense in which mathematical objects and theorems would continue to exist even though there would be no one around to write or talk about them. Huge prime numbers would continue to be prime, even if no one had proved them prime.
The only possible idea of India is that of a nation greater than the sum of its parts.
No lusting after your neighbor's house - or wife or servant or maid or ox or donkey. Don't set your heart on anything that is your neighbor's.
If people knew the story of their lives, how many would then elect to live them?
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