Chuck Klosterman - Though I obviously have no proof of this, the one...

Though I obviously have no proof of this, the one aspect of life that seems clear to me is that good people do whatever they believe is the right thing to do. Being virtuous is hard, not easy. The idea of doing good things simply because you're good seems like a zero-sum game; I'm not even sure those actions would still qualify as 'good,' since they'd merely be a function of normal behavior. Regardless of what kind of god you believe in--a loving god, a vengeful god, a capricious god, a snooty beret-wearing French god, or whatever--one has to assume that you can't be penalized for doing the things you believe to be truly righteous and just. Certainly, this creates some pretty glaring problems: Hitler may have thought he was serving God. Stalin may have thought he was serving God (or something vaguely similar). I'm certain Osama bin Laden was he was serving God. It's not hard to fathom that all of those maniacs were certain that what they were doing was right. Meanwhile, I do things that I are wrong; they're not on the same scale as incinerating Jews or blowing up skyscrapers, but my motivations might be worse. I have looked directly into the eyes of a woman I loved and told her lies for no reason, except that those lies would allow me to continue having sex with another woman I cared about less. This act did not kill 20 million Russian peasants, but it might be more 'diabolical' in a literal sense. If I died and found out I was going to hell and Stalin was in heaven, I would note the irony, but I couldn't complain. I don't make the fucking rules.

Chuck Klosterman

;
Though I obviously have no proof of this, the one aspect of life that seems clear to me is that good people do whatever they believe is the right thing to do. Being virtuous is hard, not easy. The idea of doing good things simply because you're good seems like a zero-sum game; I'm not even sure those actions would still qualify as 'good,' since they'd merely be a function of normal behavior. Regardless of what kind of god you believe in--a loving god, a vengeful god, a capricious god, a snooty beret-wearing French god, or whatever--one has to assume that you can't be penalized for doing the things you believe to be truly righteous and just. Certainly, this creates some pretty glaring problems: Hitler may have thought he was serving God. Stalin may have thought he was serving God (or something vaguely similar). I'm certain Osama bin Laden was he was serving God. It's not hard to fathom that all of those maniacs were certain that what they were doing was right. Meanwhile, I do things that I are wrong; they're not on the same scale as incinerating Jews or blowing up skyscrapers, but my motivations might be worse. I have looked directly into the eyes of a woman I loved and told her lies for no reason, except that those lies would allow me to continue having sex with another woman I cared about less. This act did not kill 20 million Russian peasants, but it might be more 'diabolical' in a literal sense. If I died and found out I was going to hell and Stalin was in heaven, I would note the irony, but I couldn't complain. I don't make the fucking rules. Chuck Klosterman

Related Topics

Keywords

proof aspect life clear good people thing virtuous hard easy idea things simply -sum game actions qualify 'good ' function normal behavior kind god -- loving vengeful capricious snooty beret-wearing french assume penalized righteous creates pretty glaring problems hitler thought serving stalin vaguely similar osama bin laden fathom maniacs wrong scale incinerating jews blowing skyscrapers motivations worse looked directly eyes woman loved told lies reason continue sex cared act kill million russian peasants 'diabolical' literal sense died found hell heaven note irony complain make fucking rules

Explore other Authors


If you are using this quote in any webpage , printmedia or any other places please use the following methods to cite this quotation.

MLA Style Citation
"A quote by Chuck Klosterman" theysaidso.com, 2024. Mar 29, 2024. https://theysaidso.com/quote/chuck-klosterman-though-i-obviously-have-no-proof-of-this-the-one-aspect-of-life
APA Style Citation
"A quote by Chuck Klosterman" (n.d.). theysaidso.com. Retrieved Mar 29, 2024, from theysaidso.com web site : https://theysaidso.com/quote/chuck-klosterman-though-i-obviously-have-no-proof-of-this-the-one-aspect-of-life
Chicago Style Citation
"A quote by Chuck Klosterman". theysaidso.com, 2024. https://theysaidso.com/quote/chuck-klosterman-though-i-obviously-have-no-proof-of-this-the-one-aspect-of-life , accessed Mar 29, 2024.

Comments

Authentication required

You must log in to post a comment.

Log in

There are no comments yet.