Keep Watch, the Better to Walk Upright A man stops himself — so said Camus, shaken by what man can do to man, even when the law permits it. Stops himself from killing. Stops himself from obeying without questioning the reasons for his obedience. Stops himself from becoming a mere cog when events call for resistance.
This moral triptych finds its answer in an older demand: to keep watch over one’s soul. Seneca said it long ago: ‘You need a change of soul rather than a change of climate.’ But today, what is such inner vigilance worth if we let our own souls darken and upend the climate? Have we not stretched our hubris so far as to change it, mortgaging our common future? And so we walk. A step inward, a step outward. Not to flee the world, but to stand upright in it, without giving in to all that would excuse us from stopping ourselves. And to keep watch. (JP)And so we walk. One step within, one step without. Not to flee the world, but to stand upright in it, yielding nothing to all that would spare us from having to stop ourselves. And to keep watch.(JP)