zetreque » March 8th, 2018, 8:16 am wrote:What about greed or laziness?
I'd also ask about lack of awareness or selfishness, but on could argue that is simple obliviousness or mental illness which is fine.
I think the point of the nice story is that everyone can act with nobility in life and intellect, or lifes inevitable hardships are no excuse to throw in towel, become enraged with life (even though there are often many reasons to do so at one time or another) when even those in horrendous positions in life - much worse than our own - are able to try and be useful to others.
People really struggle in life not because they are living under hard circumstances, but because they have either decided there is no meaning or refuse to look for meaning. If you have meaning you can overcome anything.
"He who has a why can bear almost any how." - Nietzsche
It makes me think of The Charge of the Light Brigade" too. Even though we now know that they were given the wrong order it doesn't take away from the fact that they in thw face of inevitable death moved forward and someone lived.
Then we can look at "Dulce et Decorum est" and many ask ourselves what bravery happened in those trenches beside such horror.