myself

Myself

by Bob on December 11, 2007

Some quotes about one's self which have always perplexed me in some nuances, despite having meditated on them for years and years.

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Hillel says, "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, who am I? If not now, when?"

Ethics of the Fathers, 1:14

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"Love your neighbor as yourself"

Matthew 22:39

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The intrinsic problem seems to be, can we love someone else if we don't love ourselves fully first ? I say yes we can. But there are theological disputes on it.

Hillel's quote is an amazing one. It's astounding. But it leaves me troubled. It seems to support the thesis of one's having to love oneself before giving love to another, although it doesn't literally say that. It says we should get our own house in order first but yet warns us that making the whole task of life to get our own house in order might leave us out in the cold without anyone else's love. Then there's the aspect of expediency. The now and acting now and not procrastinating.

It's all very brilliantly said. But I still ponder these words every minute of my waking life. But I still believe, perhaps naively, in the Golden Rule. It works. There would be little man-made suffering in the world if it were in practice.

"Old Man in Sorrow (On the Threshold of Eternity)" by Vincent van Gogh (1890)