THE “HEAVINESS” OF HUMAN LIFE

In case of shipwrecks or other disasters, entire rescue squads are often

mobilized to save a single life. That is because each life has inestimable

value; in the words of the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926),

“Life is heavier than the heaviness of all things” If the innate goodness

of life were not a given, then the practice of medicine would collapse,

along with politics, economics, science, the arts, ethics, and law―　all

of which are nothing more ore less than different approaches to the goal

of living a longer and happier life.

  Each field has its own way of enhancing the quality of life. It is the

role of politics and economics to explore ways for people to live at ease.

unconcerned by threats of layoffs or expensive nursing care. Break-thoughts

in science and technology, meanwhile, have made life easier than ever before;

Doing the laundry used to be backbreaking labor that entailed bending over a washtub,

scrubbing wet clothes on a washboard, and wringing them tightly, but today all it takes is

the push of button. Finding ways to resolve interpersonal conflict and allow neighbors to live

peaceably together is the sphere of ethics and law. And because the prospect of work,

work, work without relief is unbearable, sports and the arts exist to invigorate us.

Each of these fields of endeavor is concerned with how to surmount the hardships of life

and find pleasure in living. Even altruistic contributions to the greater happiness of humanity

comprise a way of living rather than an ultimate purpose of life.

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 "you were born for a reason  

the real purpose of life "　　

Translated and adapted by Juliet Winters Carpenter

(lchimannendo Publishing, Inc.)

“you were born for a reason is a solemn and profound book”

 Edward Seidensticker