The world begins anew with every birth, my father used to say. He forgot to say, with every death it ends. Or did not think he needed to. Because for a goodly part of his life he worked in a graveyard.
Interpretation
Life is cyclic; every new birth signifies a new beginning, while each death signifies an ending.
This quote reflects on the cyclical nature of life, emphasizing that every birth represents the start of a new journey, while every death symbolizes the conclusion of another. The author's father's perspective, shaped by his experiences in a graveyard, suggests that he recognized the profound interconnection between life and death, yet perhaps chose to focus solely on the beauty of new beginnings without pondering the inevitability of endings.
In practice
In a eulogy, this quote can remind attendees of the cyclical nature of life.
It is funny, but it strikes me that a person without anecdotes that they nurse while they live, and that survive them, are more likely to be utterly lost not only to history but the family following them. Of course this is the fate of most souls, reducing entire lives, no matter how vivid and wonderful, to those sad black names on withering family trees, with half a date dangling after and a question mark.
What is the sound of an eighty-nine-year-old heart breaking?
No voice comes from outer space, from the folds of dust and carpets of wind to tell us that this is the way it was meant to happen, that if only we knew how long the ruins would last we would never complain.
One's own free and unfettered volition, one's own caprice, however wild, one's own fancy, inflamed sometimes to the point of madness - that is the one best and greatest good, which is never taken into consideration because it cannot fit into any classification and the omission of which sends all systems and theories to the devil.
We are not just bundles of atoms being pushed around. But, there's something spiritual about us whether we give that a religious interpretation or not. And so, it's that sense of there being dignity to life that I associate with the word God. I mean, that's probably a pretty radical and agnostic way of interpreting it. But, that's what I think.
I have made a ceaseless effort not to ridicule, not to bewail, not to scorn human actions, but to understand them.
The stories are what no one wants to talk about. So you make up a story because no one is going to tell you the truth.
From my first published paper in 1946, my obsession has been to objectify inner experiences, to demystify the software of human existence. How? By relating changes in external behavior, systematically and lawfully, to changes in the brain.
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