The Death Knell of Meaning

Ravi Zacharias wrote:

“Pleasure, not pain, is the death knell of meaning.

This is the lonely planet problem of Sam Harris’s worldview — the belief that because each of us is alone in the universe our personal joys and sorrows have no effect or impact on anyone else. In other words, it’s all about me.

We have all come to know that our problem is not that pain has produced emptiness in our lives; the real problem is that even pleasure utlimately leaves us empty and unfulfilled. When the pleasure button is pressed incessantly, we are left feeling bewilderingly empty and betrayed.”

and one phrase that I particularly liked (probably cause I relate myself so much to it):

“The greates disappointment (and resulting pain) you can feel is when you have just experiienced that which you thought would bring you the ultimate in pleasure – and it has let you down.”

and to sum it all up:

“Pleasure without boundaries produces a life without purpose. That is real pain. No death, no tragedy, no atrocity — nothing really matters. Life is sheer hollowness, with no purpose”

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