Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Believe in Little Lies

Sometimes lying is necessary.

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Death
: Humans need fantasy to *be* human. To be the place where the falling angel meets the rising ape.
Susan: With tooth fairies? Hogfathers?
Death: Yes. As practice, you have to start out learning to believe the little lies.
Susan: So we can believe the big ones?
Death: Yes. Justice, mercy, duty. That sort of thing.
Susan: They're not the same at all.
Death: 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, you try to 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.
Susan: But people have got to believe that, or what's the point?
Death: You need to believe in things that aren't true. How else can they become?

6 comments:

SG Fairy said...

talk about being cynical.

But the universe has to be balanced, doesn't it? When there's Death, there'll also be Life. So just as there's injustice, cruelty etc, there'll also have to be justice and mercy.

Or do none of the above exist at all, one canceling out the other? Then that would mean that there is just simply.. nothingness.
I can't, I won't accept that. Cos if that's the case, we're not really alive then, are we?

Cogito, ergo sum.

Vandalin said...

And belief is what makes the lies become real. That's the important thing at the end of the day isn't it?

SG Fairy said...

So you're saying everything is really an illusion, a lie... we merely give a lie life when we believe it, give lies a coat of 'truth'?

Have you ever read the play 'The Wild Duck' by Henrik Ibsen? I just remembered it.. protagonist has a shitty life but is happy nonetheless because he created what's called a 'Life Lie'.

Me, I can't decide whether I'll rather live a lie and be happy, or live the truth and be miserable.

Vandalin said...

What IS truth?

If enough people believe in the value of a certain thing, that takes on a life of its own.

When that is manifested, then is it still a lie? Or has it become truth?

It's 2 sides of the same coin I think. But i'll be happy to read the wild duck

SG Fairy said...

If we base the argument on what you initially said, that "belief is what makes the lies become real", then truth is essentially lies disguised by belief.

If that's the basic fundamental of what truth is, then a truth will always be a lie, regardless of whether it has manifested or not. It can evolve, yes, appear to be something else, but it is still a lie.

Which means I've basically shot myself in the foot, lol, when I said, "I can't decide whether I'll rather live a lie and be happy, or live the truth and be miserable."

Pass The Wild Duck to you when we meet.

Eiji Kotaki said...

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