From the Holy Week issue:
My judgments of other men are related, for the most part, to what I would like to be, and if they are cruel, it is because I am punishing myself in them...Every soul bears within it an aspiration which remains forever unsatisfied because the infinite is its aim. Consequently the man does not exist who is not conscious of his insufficiency; but sooner or later every other man shows him his, and the realization of this common weakness may become not only a double consolation, but a mutual stimulus. For I transcend myself the moment I go out from myself. The mere admission that I am not sufficient until myself, that you are not sufficient unto yourself, creates between us a communion which provides each of us with what he lacked when he was alone. To know that one's wretchedness is shared is to begin to overcome it. But this is not all: a moment ago I knew of no balm for my distress, but when I applied myself to bring you comfort in yours, I found my own comfort in the act.
--Louis Lavelle, prisoner of war in WWI and French philosopher
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