Love Is Wise, Hatred Is Foolish
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
31 May 2024
In a rare
1959 interview with BBC, Bertrand Russell was asked to pass along advice to a
later generation. In just under two minutes he articulated two things: one
intellectual and one moral that still resonate today and cut through our noisy
world.
"The moral thing I should wish to say to
them is very simple: I should say, love is wise, hatred is foolish. In this world, which is getting
more and more closely interconnected, we have to learn to tolerate each other,
we have to learn to put up with the fact that some people say things that we
don’t like. We can only live together in that way—and if we are to live
together and not die together—we must learn a kind of charity and a kind of
tolerance, which is absolutely vital to the continuation of human life on this
planet."
I don't
want to sound like a moralist or a preacher. Nor am I sermonising on this forum
because I believe that only those who're sanctimonious, resort to sermonising.
That said, Love indeed is wise and Hatred is foolish.
The famous
adage, 'your own experiences wisen you up' applies to Russell's pithy quote and
also puts his aphorism in perspective. Writing for The Times, London in 1953,
Russell criticised the Existentialists, namely Sartre and Camus, as dandies and
shallow writers who seldom wrote anything worthwhile. While Sartre and Simone
de Beauvoir hit back, the ever-calm Albert Camus wrote in the French daily Le
Figaro, "If one's incapable of loving, one should at least refrain from
hating." This statement of much younger Camus hit Russell like a blitzkrieg.
Camus went on to win the Nobel in Literature in 1957 at the age of 44.
Realizing
his mistake, Russell said that love was wise, hatred was foolish in the BBC
interview in 1959. In a short and rather insignificant existence, most of the
humans make their lives all the more insignificant by hating foolishly and
relentlessly.
What's all
the more bizarre and tragic is that our hatred or anger towards people or
certain individuals is barely personal. To elaborate it, our hatred is often
atavistic, prejudicial and ideological. We hate people without even meeting or
seeing them. Our enmity towards people stems from ideological differences.
Isn't it so foolish? On social forums, people abuse and call names without ever
meeting or seeing their 'targets'.
Extreme
dislike often creates a 'chain reaction' that degenerates into implacable
hatred. If you abuse someone on social media, others also jump on the bandwagon
and follow suit because hatred comes to us effortlessly and is more contagious
than the Covid-19. We all have a bee in our bonnets. Hatred stokes our basic
savage and sadistic instincts and is so widespread. Running down someone is
always so thrilling because it's a throwback to our feral past when our
primitive and prehistoric ancestors would chase and kill animals and also
fellow humans.
Hatred
eclipses love. It erodes all tenderness and calcifies us. We continue to hate
or dislike foolishly. Remember, hatred and dislike are Siamese twins, based on
unfounded fears and apprehensions. Hatred shrinks our heart and mind, whereas
love expands them. Yet, love, the fundamental human trait, remains buried in
the crevices and crannies of our hearts.
Confucius
rightly said that wiseness or wisdom often comes very late. To quote,
NihaalNarharvi, "Aql Aati Hai Zaeefi Mein/ Par Kai Baar Kabhi Nahin
Aati" (Wisdom comes when one's old/ But oftentimes, it doesn't come at
all!). To love is to be wise and vice versa.
At this
juncture of human civilization, all we need is love and permanent banishment of
hatred, rancour and bad-blood. Because, "Har Kisi Se Milo Khuloos Ke
Saath/ ChaarDin Ki Toh Zindagani Hai/ Hirs, Ghussa, Hasd, Havas, Nafrat/ Ye
Fana Hone Ki Nishani Hai"(Life is short. So, meet everyone with a
sense of bonhomie/ Hatred, bad-blood, anger, concupiscence and envy/ All these
are signs of annihilation).
We waste
our time maligning and mud-slinging but hardly a moment in loving and making
this world a better place to live in. Jigar Muradabadi aptly said, "Mera
Paighaam Muhabbat Hai Jahan Tak Pahunche"(My message is love; let it
spread beyond limits).
Some
readers might smirk and say that this writer himself needs to imbibe the
universal spirit of love as he preaches water but drinks wine. True, when did I
say, I'm irreproachable? What I've stated also applies to me in letter and
spirit. I too need to shelve my petulance for, petulance leads to hatred and
shuts all doors to love, understanding and consideration.
-----
A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian.
URL:
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism