Una vita ben vissuta non e' quella immune dalla sofferenza emotiva, ma quella nella quale permettiamo alla sofferenza emotiva di contribuire alla nostra crescita

Across history, the articulation of melancholy attitudes in works of art has provided us with relief from a sense of loneliness and persecution.

Among others, Pascal, Keats, Shelley, Schopenhauer and Leonard Cohen have been able to reassure us of the normalcy of our states of sadness. 

In particular, they have made a case for a species of low-level, muted sadness that arises when we are open to the fact that life is inherently difficult and that suffering and disappointment are core parts of universal experience. 

It’s not a disorder that needs to be cured. 

The good life is not one immune to grief, but one in which we allow suffering to contribute to our development.

THE BOOK OF LIFE

On being cheered along.