In our body there often exists two forces battling for control and influence, Reason (mind) and Passion (heart). This fighting is like a raging storm, so violent that it shakes the very plain in which it exists. But why do these two power combat each other? The answer is found in the question: "Are humans beasts or are they angles?" In truth, we are neither beast nor angel, just human. And our humanity remains in a doubtful middle state between the beasts, who are passionate and instinctual, and the angels, who are reasonable and cognizant. We have the ability to choose whether we want to live as beasts or as angels, and shows why our minds and hearts fight one another for dominance. But the Reason and Passion cannot exist alone, they need one another, and so the battle never ends. I found a quote by Lebanese-American author Kahlil Gibran, who wrote philosophically about man's relationship to the Universe, which explains this relationship. The quote reads:
“Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul.
If either your sails or your rudder be broken, you can but toss and drift, or else be held at a standstill in mid-seas.
For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction.
Therefore let your soul exalt your reason to the height of passion, that it may sing;
And let it direct your passion with reason, that your passion may live through its own daily resurrection, and like the phoenix rise above its own ashes.”
Our bodies need both Reason and Passion in order to function properly, and God gave us the faculties of beasts and angels so that we could experience what they do and truly experience what is good.
2 comments:
Ross, I really love this quote that you posted. I think it's very interesting how reason and passion rely on each other greatly and how they complement each other. After reading Isabel's post about to what extent fate and people (as in chance) control our lives and then reading your post, I realized how there are so many things we consider opposites, but that in the end, they rely heavily on each other. We cannot have passion in our lives without a certain degree of reason and vice versa. Reason and passion combine in a human's life, as we live in the middle of the two. In a similar way, in my opinion, fate cannot exist without chances. So both fate and chance blend together and it is difficult for humans to distinguish one from the other in their lives.
I was thinking the same thing, Tiffany! Isabel's post about if things happen because of people and if things happen by chance. We need a little bit of both to rule our lives, but overall our life is ruled by fate. Like you said Tiff, fate cannot live without chances. This also kinda ties in with moderation in plays that we've read like Medea and Oedipus. Many characters lacked moderation, and weed a healthy balance of everything to live a balanced life.
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