“Where common sense stops, metaphysics must take another stride. “We have seen,” it says, “many instances where at first glance suffering seemed absurd and needless, but where later on a profound significance was revealed. Thus it may be that what we cannot explain may find its explanation in time. … The less a man has fulfilled in experience, the more in him remains of unsatisfied passion and desire, the greater are the grounds for thinking that his essence cannot be destroyed, but must manifest itself somehow or other in the universe. Voluntary asceticism and self-denial, such common human phenomena, help to solve the riddle. Nobody compels a man, he imposes suffering and abstinence on himself. It is an incomprehensible instinct, but still an instinct which, rooted in the depths of our nature, prompts us to a decision repugnant to reason: renounce life, save yourself. … And he who has endured most suffering, most privation, will awaken in the afterwards most keenly alive.” Such long speeches metaphysics whispers to us. And we repeat them, often leaving out the “it may be.””

– Lev Shestov, All Things Are Possible

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