From One of Our Listeners

Here is an essay I received from one of our listeners, Steve Stokes. Steve is a Philosophy Cafe moderator in Atlanta, GA. (The essay was originally composed for NPR's This I Believe series.)


This I Believe, by Steven Stokes

I believe that ultimately the paradoxes of life make fools of us all. So if we would be wise we should study life’s paradoxes and confront our abject foolishness head on.

I’ve come to see that the ultimate source of all human anguish is that we are finite beings sentient of infinity. I’m an egocentric spec at the center of totality. My personal existence is forged by the cosmic chain of events, and all I can do is go along for the ride.

I believe every person, at some point faces a decision as to what to do with their life. They are either to do something with their life or to do nothing with their life. I fear that too many of my brethren opt to do the latter, and too few to do the former. I believe life ought not be squandered; no one should let it slip through their fingers like so much sand, even as they desperately grasp at every grain in an effort to hold on to it forever.

I believe one should not overlook the truth that can lie at the heart of a cliché. Life is not a dress rehearsal… it is a journey, not a destination…and you really only go around once. One would be wise to quit snickering about these facts and take heed of their message.

Accordingly, I believe that one ought to live their life in such a way as to maximize its total experience. No person ought to waste that one life that they have to live. No one should, at the end of their days, look back with regret on all that they never did: the beauties they did not see, the music they did not hear, the flavors they did not taste, the aromas they did not inhale, the sensations they did not feel. Never forget that the next second is guaranteed to no one: life can end without warning in an instant.

I believe we are all very much the same and yet everyone is unique. I believe this is the most important thing to keep in mind. My enemy would not be my enemy if I knew what he knows, and if he knew what I know. So the great tragedy is that we don’t know the other as well as we ought to before we have to act.

I believe the only immorality is doing to another that which we would not have done to ourselves. And the only evil is taking pleasure in doing the immoral. It falls to the enlightened, and the intelligent and the sane to take responsibility for the deluded or doltish or insane.

I’ve come to believe that the secret of living life is to strike a balance between being happy with what I have while striving to make things better. I set my heading by my passions, but let my intellect steer my ship. I believe the circle of human life consists of aspiration, actualization, attainment, and appreciation.

All this I believe, and so much more…

Thanks Steve for sharing your core philosophy. We look forward to including you in our next live discussion, September 5.

Articulating ones core philosophy in a short essay like this (500 words) is a challenging, but very worthwhile exercise in personal self-exploration. I encourage other listeners try this as well. Send your essays to me (click on comments) if you would like me to post them.

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