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Re: Sad news

by BrowserUk (Patriarch)
on Jan 12, 2009 at 13:38 UTC ( [id://735670]=note: print w/replies, xml ) Need Help??


in reply to Sad news

To mourn the passing of a man you didn't know is the very essence of the human condition.

  • Whether he made you laugh--and he did on occasion.
  • Or educated you--which he did on occasion also.
  • Or even if he annoyed you occasionally--which he also did.

He stimulated you; caused you to think; emote; react; what more can you ask of stranger.

There is a poem that I first became aware of through a movie that I --possibly controversially--rate as one of the best ever made:

I never knew a wild thing
That felt sorry for itself.
A small bird will fall frozen dead from a bough
Without ever having felt sorry for itself.
- D. H. Lawrence

To feel sorry for oneself is arguably a characteristic unique to the human species.

As is, feeling sorry for another(*).

Could you have one without the other?

Is not sympathy the very essence of humanity?

Farewell Blazar. The world is a poorer place for your passing.

(*)There is some evidence to support the supposition that elephants are capable of feeling sorrow for the loss of another of their aquaintance.

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re^2: Sad news
by Bloodnok (Vicar) on Jan 12, 2009 at 13:47 UTC
    Hear hear, BrowserUk

    IMO, the worlds' a far better better place for his having, all too fleetingly, passed thro' it.

    A user level that continues to overstate my experience :-))
Re^2: Sad news (OT)
by Jenda (Abbot) on Jan 18, 2009 at 01:06 UTC

    Talk to any dog lover and he/she will assure you dogs can feel sorrow too. There are so many stories of dogs displaying or even dieing of sorrow after the loss of the beloved owner or a friend dog they lived with for years that they can't all be made up. I believe we should be very cautious when talking about things unique to humans. There are some, but I don't think it's any of these "basic" "simple" things.

      My grandmother's dog died about 5 days after she did. He'd stopped eating when she died.

      If anyone who knew Blazar ends up reading this page you should know that even those with whom he was trivially involved here, like me, could tell he was a genuinely nice person, will miss him, and are deeply saddened that his time toward the end was so difficult. His attitude was amazingly good and he showed great strength and character.

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