"Knowledge is the eye of desire, and can become the pilot of the soul." That gem is by Will Durant. I actually had to look this guy up because I really had no clue about who he was. Turns out he was a writer, historian and philosopher. The combination likely makes for a long-winded read. In fact, his most famous work ran to eleven volumes and was written over four decades. Yikes!
Anyway, back to the quote. When I originally looked at the quote, I was just going to paraphrase it and say "Knowledge is the pilot of the soul." I changed my mind for two reasons. First, I started to think about what he was saying and apply it to my own life, and I noticed that oftentimes does lead the soul about. Anyone who has ever been happily married likely knows what I am talking about here. Secondly, my daughter Maddie usually complains if I write about the soul or say anything that has religious connotations. I must say that I am very interested in the existence (or non-existence) of souls, although I don't necessarily think that my interest is due to any religious fervor on my part. Overall, I suspect that we have souls, although, even after thinking about it, I can't tell you why I actually believe it. Some of it is likely actually the hope that I will one day be able to be with my wife again. She died two years ago and I miss her dearly. Sometimes the hope of being able to see her again when it is my time is all that keeps me from falling into a well of sadness. A second reason for my belief is that I have had a number of personal experiences where things have happened to me that I just can't understand. These things are small, and personal, yet they have had a large impact on my thinking. Clinically, I am sure much of what I have experienced could be called minor hallucinations brought on by stress. And I can accept that answer, for some of them. For other things, though, I find it hard to accept that answer though. And thus, like a moth to a flame I am drawn to studies and articles about souls and psyches, and the impact of memories on our day to day lives. For me, it seems that the desire for knowledge is the pilot of my soul. I truly want to understand what I have experienced, and to do that I need to be able to compare it to other people's experiences. Unfortunately, there are a lot of charlatans out there. Some books and movies that have been produced that many people believed to be true, were later said to be hoaxes by one of the people involved. To sum it up, knowledge for me is not the eye of desire. Instead, the desire for knowledge is the pilot of my soul. It's a little different than the way the quote was actually written, but for me, it is a lot more correct and meaningful.
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