Max helped live these wise words from Pascal long before I read it.
All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.
- Blaise Pascal, Pensées
Of course, Fluffy and Garph teach me everyday by showing the pleasures of sitting quietly and have a splendid life. In John Gray's words:
We are at one with all other creatures. Humans do not rank above other animals, or below them. There is no cosmic scale of value, no great chain of being; no external standard by which the worth of a life can be judged. Humans are humans, cats are cats. The difference is that, while cats have nothing to learn from us, we can learn from them how to lighten the load that comes with being human.
One burden we can give up is the idea that there could be a perfect life. It is not that our lives are inevitably imperfect. They are richer than any idea of perfection. The good life is not a life you might have led or may yet lead, but the life you already have. Here, cats can be our teachers, for they do not miss the lives they have not lived.
What else can there be to ask from life when I have more than I ever dreamed of?
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