Monday, November 21, 2011

The Meaning of Life (Part 3)



This is a speech taken from one of my favourite movies: 'Life of David Gale'

You get Lacan's point.


Fantasies have to be unrealistic...

Because the moment... the second...

that you get what you seek...


you don't...

you can't want it anymore.

In order to continue to exist...


desire must have its objects

perpetually absent.


It's not the "it" that you want.

It's the fantasy of"it."


- So, desire supports crazy fantasies.


This is what Pascal means when he says

that we are only truly happy...


when daydreaming

about future happiness.


- Or why we say...


the hunt is sweeter

than the kill.


Or be careful what you wish for,

not because you'll get it...


but because you're doomed

not to want it once you do.


So the lesson of Lacan is,

living by your wants

will never make you happy.


What it means to be fully human is

to strive to live by ideas and ideals...


and not to measure your life

by what you've attained

in terms of your desires...


but those small moments

of integrity, compassion...

rationality, even self-sacrifice.



Because in the end, the only way

that we can measure the

significance of our own lives...

is by valuing the lives of others.



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