You will be required to do wrong no matter where you go. It is the basic condition of life, to be required to violate your own identity. At some time, every creature which lives must do so. It is the ultimate shadow, the defeat of creation; this is the curse at work, the curse that feeds on all life. Everywhere in the universe.
Interpretation
Life often forces us to compromise our true selves, leading to inner conflict.
This quote by Philip K. Dick reflects on the inherent struggles of life, where individuals are often faced with circumstances that compel them to act against their true identity. This ongoing conflict is portrayed as a universal burden, suggesting that every living being grapples with the necessity to adopt roles or make choices that may go against their essence, resulting in a profound sense of defeat and disconnection from one's true self.
In practice
In a speech about ethical dilemmas, one could use this quote to highlight the challenges of staying true to oneself.
We are living in a computer-programmed reality, and the only clue we have to it is when some variable is changed, and some alteration in reality occurs. We have the overwhelming impression that we were reliving the present - deja vu.
Don't try to solve serious matters in the middle of the night.
On some other world, possibly it is different. Better. There are clear good and evil alternatives. Not these obscure admixtures, these blends, with no proper tool by which to untangle the components.
"Do you have information that there's an android in the cast? I'd be glad to help you, and if I were an android would I be glad to help you?" "An android," he said, "doesn't care what happens to another android. That's one of the indications we look for." "Then," Miss Luft said, "you must be an android."
The universe is information and we are stationary in it, not three dimensional and not in space or time.
A man is an angel that has gone deranged.
Was there ever in anyone's life span a point free in time, devoid of memory, a night when choice was any more than the sum of all the choices gone before?
IDLENESS, n. A model farm where the devil experiments with seeds of new sins and promotes the growth of staple vices.
I felt we must separate political responsibility. The Dalai Lama should not carry that burden. So that is my selfish reason - to protect the old Dalai Lama tradition. It is safer without political involvement.
To make a thief, make an owner; to create crime, create laws.
For the record, I don't expect you to believe any of this. Not really. I'm a liar by trade, after all; albeit, I like to think, an honest liar.
And every human being is precious.
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