fear, a human strategy, aphorism 488

488

 “There is absolutely nothing to fear since death is not a human experience,” and so how do I account for my remaining fear? My fear, then, must be that which has been left out of the above logic. Fear must be a part of the human body, just as is a kidney or a finger. I can not reason away a kidney when it makes me suffer. I can however amputate it, just as I am sure that I could have some piece of my brain amputated so as to eliminate all fear. But what must necessarily be attached to that amputation? Would my courage be greater than that of the seafaring pig in the storm? How much more firmly do I stand through the opposition of gravity? How much more am I with fears to oppose? I would even express gratitude for my death, but that it is also a point of honor never to yield an inch to an enemy.

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