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I believe that the root of evil,
in everybody perhaps,
but, certainly in those whom
affliction has touched,
is daydreaming.
It is the sole consolation,
the unique resource of the afflicted;
the one solace that helps them bear
the fearful burden to time;
and a very innocent one,
besides being indispensable.
So how could it be possible to renounce it?
It has only one disadvantage,
which is that it is unreal.
To renounce it for the love of truth
is really to abandon all one's possessions
in a mad excess of love and follow Him
who is the personification of Truth.
And it is really to bear the cross;
because time is the cross.
In all its forms without exception,
daydreaming is falsehood.
It excludes love. Love is real.
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~ Simone Weil
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from for lovers of god everywhere
poems of the Christian mystics
by roger housden
art by picasso
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Daydreaming - not the activity of having thoughts, but allowing one's attention to get lost in them - is an obstacle to presence, an obstacle to love which exists only in presence, an obstacle to our embrace of the fullness of life, and to contemplative practices in all traditions..
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