'L'infer, c'est les autres', Sartre wrote. Hell is other people. But, although Sartre's intellect far outweighs mine, I disagree. Hell isn't external, it's internal, what's inside your head, the amalgam of vain hopes, unfulfilled ambitions, fears, loss, regret, and the leaden, inescapable knowledge of all the mistakes you've made in your life. 'No Exit'. The name of the play the quotation comes from, as I discovered today. How apposite.
Love & best wishes to all
Sammy B
I've read and seen that play, and find it depressing. However, I tend to agree with you. If there is a hell, it isn't fire and brimstone, it's living with all you mention, for all eternity. What could be worse?
ReplyDeletePeace <3
Jay
Hello Jay
DeleteThere's a quote from Nabokov's Ada, which I can't quite recall exactly, but the gist of which is that the human mind is the worst torture chamber ever devised. The religionists' Boschian fantasies are positively benign by comparison.
Love & best wishes
Sammy B