happiness of others and the grief that shall fall on himself. Ordinary
men she lays siege to with the aid of all that is ugly; against the
others she perforce must enlist whatever is noblest on earth. Against
the first she has thousands of weapons, the very stones in the road
becoming engines of mischief; but the others she can only attack with
one irresistible sword, the gleaming sword of duty and truth. In
Antigone's story is found the whole tale of destiny's empire on wisdom.
Jesus who died for us, Curtius who leaped into the gulf, Socrates who
refused to desist from his teaching, the sister of charity who yields
up her life to tending the sick, the humble wayfarer who perishes
seeking to rescue his fellows from death--all these have been forced to
choose, all these bear the mark of Antigone's glorious wound on their
breast. For truly those who live in the light have their magnificent
perils also; and wisdom has danger for such as shrink from
self-sacrifice, though it may be that they who shrink from
self-sacrifice are perhaps not very wise.
48. Pronounce the word "destiny," and in the minds of all men an image
arises of gloom and of terror--of death. In their thoughts they regard
it, instinctively, as the lane that leads straight to the tomb. Most
often, indeed, it is only the name that they give unto death, when its
hand is not visible yet. It is death that looms in the future, the
shadow of death upon life. "None can escape his destiny" we often
exclaim when we hear of death lying in wait for the traveller at the
bend of the road. But were the traveller to encounter happiness
instead, we would never ascribe this to destiny; if we did, we should
have in our mind a far different goddess. And yet, are not joys to be
met with on the highways of life that are greater than any misfortune,
more momentous even than death? May a happiness not be encountered that
the eye cannot see? and is it not of the nature of happiness to be less
manifest than misfortune, to become ever less apparent to the eye as it
reaches loftier heights? But to this we refuse to pay heed. The whole
village, the town, will flock to the spot where some wretched adventure
takes place; but there are none will pause for an instant and let their
eyes rest on a kiss, or a vision of beauty that gladdens the soul, a
ray of love that illumines the heart. And yet may the kiss be
productive of joy no less great than the pain that follows a wound. We
are unjust; we never associate destiny with happiness; and if we do not
regard it as being inseparable from death, it is only to connect it
with disaster even greater than death itself.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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