You wouldn’t be normal if you were never afraid. Even the bravest men experience fear. One of the biggest jobs we all face in combat is to overcome fear.
Joseph HellerRead
How much reverence can you have for a Supreme Being who finds it necessary to include such phenomena as phlegm and tooth decay in His divine system of Creation? What in the world was running through that warped, evil, scatological mind of His when He robbed old people of the power to control their bowel movements?
Interpretation
This quote questions the nature of divinity by highlighting the imperfections present in human existence.
Joseph Heller's quote critiques the concept of a perfect Supreme Being by pointing to the uncomfortable and often grotesque aspects of human life, such as illness and aging. By examining these seemingly trivial yet troubling elements, Heller encourages a deeper inquiry into the nature of divine creation and the inherent flaws within it, prompting a reflection on the complexities of existence and the challenges faced by humanity.
In practice
During a philosophy class discussion on the nature of God and creation.
You wouldn’t be normal if you were never afraid. Even the bravest men experience fear. One of the biggest jobs we all face in combat is to overcome fear.
History did not demand Yossarian's premature demise, justice could be satisfied without it, progress did not hinge upon it, victory did not depend on it. That men would die was a matter of necessity; WHICH men would die, though, was a matter of circumstance, and Yossarian was willing to be the victim of anything but circumstance. But that was war. Just about all he could find in its favor was that it paid well and liberated children from the pernicious influence of their parents.
The enemy is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he's on.
He had decided to live forever or die in the attempt.
Hungry Joe collected lists of fatal diseases and arranged them in alphabetical order so that he could put his finger without delay on any one he wanted to worry about.
The country was in peril; he was jeopardizing his traditional rights of freedom and independence by daring to exercise them.
Charity depends on the vicissitudes of whim and personal wealth; justice depends on commitment instead of circumstance. Faith-based charity provides crumbs from the table; faith-based justice offers a place at the table.
There is the fear that we shan't prove worthy in the eyes of someone who knows us at least as well as we know ourselves. That is the fear of God. And there is the fear of Man -fear that men won't understand us and we shall be cut of from them.
It is right that he too should have his little chronicle, his memories, his reason, and be able to recognize the good in the bad, the bad in the worst, and so grow gently old down all the unchanging days, and die one day like any other day, only shorter.
Ever building, building to the clouds, still building higher, and never reflecting that the poor narrow basis cannot sustain the giddy tottering column.
If someday they say of me that in my work I have contributed something to the welfare and happiness of my fellow man, I shall be satisfied.
Everyone knows that when you look at a television ad, you do not expect to get information. You expect to see delusion and imagery.
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