When Strength is Too Much

In one of my classes we read a book and this quote just so happened to be in it:

"Anyone who looks with anguish on evils so great must acknowledge the tragedy of it all; and if anyone experiences them without anguish, his condition is even more tragic, since he remains serene by losing his humanity." 

        --Augustine of Hippo

 I think it is depressing, if it's true; but in my opinion, it is not.

From the quote I understood that it is depressing to think that people should hurt; that it is healthy for a person to hurt. No matter how strong a person is at one point they have to break, and if they don't then they probably weren't strong in the first place--they were just numbed, and that is weakness.

Ideally, this quote explains that numbness is the greatest tragedy. It tells us that if a person doesn't show anguish then there is something wrong with them. Every person deserves a moment when they can be poked and bleed. Bleeding signifies that you are alive, that you still care for others and yourself. The problem occurs when one person is poked, but doesn't bleed, when they don't care to see the blood that comes out and then they claim it is just broken skin.

In my opinion this quote is not only wrong, but it makes me realize how sad the truth is. To me it is sad that human beings were designed to be weak at one point. All our lives we want to be strong, but sometimes strength is to much. We don't want others to think we are weak so we scold ourselves for giving in to the natural need of comfort, of natural actions like crying. We see others strong and put together, ultimately seeing the best of them, but we judge ourselves behind closed doors and we think something is wrong with us. Then, because of what we see we train ourselves to be the same; strong and put together. We become calloused on the outside and hold our tears in, only crying on the inside.

This quote is wrong in my opinion because, people can hold themselves together, very well, but on the inside they might be torn apart. This quote only portrays what we see, but not how the other person feels. Thus there is no way to tell how cold a person is unless you can share the same feelings, unless you see them behind their closed doors too.