Because I recently rediscovered this, sharing here:
All right," said Susan. “I’m not stupid. You’re saying humans need… fantasies to make life bearable.”
REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.
“Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little—”
YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.
“So we can believe the big ones?”
YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.
“They’re not the same at all!”
YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET—Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME…SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.
“Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what’s the point—”
I actually would prefer people see them as ideals rather than unchanging facts of the universe, because unchanging facts don’t require you to fight to keep them like ideals do, and I’m tired of hearing diatribes about the world being just instead of people actually making it just.
As far as I’m aware, most people who think the world is naturally just think that such justice comes slowly, and with wild swings away and towards justice happening in the mean time. So you still need to turn the ideal of justice into reality in the mean time either way.
Because I recently rediscovered this, sharing here:
–Terry Pratchett, Hogfather
I actually would prefer people see them as ideals rather than unchanging facts of the universe, because unchanging facts don’t require you to fight to keep them like ideals do, and I’m tired of hearing diatribes about the world being just instead of people actually making it just.
The universe might not care, but we do. And that is the entire point indeed.
INDEED
THERE’S NO JUSTICE. THERE’S JUST US.
A sense and need for justice might be genetic in humans.
As far as I’m aware, most people who think the world is naturally just think that such justice comes slowly, and with wild swings away and towards justice happening in the mean time. So you still need to turn the ideal of justice into reality in the mean time either way.