#selfpity — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #selfpity, aggregated by home.social.
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A quotation from Hannah Arendt
What stuck in the minds of these men who had become murderers was simply the notion of being involved in something historic, grandiose, unique (“a great task that occurs once in two thousand years”), which must therefore be difficult to bear. This was important, because the murderers were not sadists or killers by nature; on the contrary, a systematic effort was made to weed out all those who derived physical pleasure from what they did. The troops of the Einsatzgruppen had been drafted from the Armed S.S., a military unit with hardly more crimes in its record than any ordinary unit of the German Army, and their commanders had been chosen by Heydrich from the S.S. élite with academic degrees. Hence the problem was how to overcome not so much their conscience as the animal pity by which all normal men are affected in the presence of physical suffering. The trick used by Himmler — who apparently was rather strongly afflicted by these instinctive reactions himself — was very simple and probably very effective; it consisted in turning these instincts around, as it were, in directing them toward the self. So that instead of saying: What horrible things I did to people!, the murderers would be able to say: What horrible things I had to watch in the pursuance of my duties, how heavily the task weighed upon my shoulders!
Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, ch. 6 (1963)More info about this quote: wist.info/arendt-hannah/13940/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hannaharendt #banalityofevil #burden #difficulty #duty #genocide #Holocaust #killer #murder #murderer #persuasion #pity #selfcenteredness #selfdeception #selfpity #task #selfjustification
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A quotation from Hannah Arendt
What stuck in the minds of these men who had become murderers was simply the notion of being involved in something historic, grandiose, unique (“a great task that occurs once in two thousand years”), which must therefore be difficult to bear. This was important, because the murderers were not sadists or killers by nature; on the contrary, a systematic effort was made to weed out all those who derived physical pleasure from what they did. The troops of the Einsatzgruppen had been drafted from the Armed S.S., a military unit with hardly more crimes in its record than any ordinary unit of the German Army, and their commanders had been chosen by Heydrich from the S.S. élite with academic degrees. Hence the problem was how to overcome not so much their conscience as the animal pity by which all normal men are affected in the presence of physical suffering. The trick used by Himmler — who apparently was rather strongly afflicted by these instinctive reactions himself — was very simple and probably very effective; it consisted in turning these instincts around, as it were, in directing them toward the self. So that instead of saying: What horrible things I did to people!, the murderers would be able to say: What horrible things I had to watch in the pursuance of my duties, how heavily the task weighed upon my shoulders!
Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, ch. 6 (1963)More info about this quote: wist.info/arendt-hannah/13940/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hannaharendt #banalityofevil #burden #difficulty #duty #genocide #Holocaust #killer #murder #murderer #persuasion #pity #selfcenteredness #selfdeception #selfpity #task #selfjustification
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A quotation from Hannah Arendt
What stuck in the minds of these men who had become murderers was simply the notion of being involved in something historic, grandiose, unique (“a great task that occurs once in two thousand years”), which must therefore be difficult to bear. This was important, because the murderers were not sadists or killers by nature; on the contrary, a systematic effort was made to weed out all those who derived physical pleasure from what they did. The troops of the Einsatzgruppen had been drafted from the Armed S.S., a military unit with hardly more crimes in its record than any ordinary unit of the German Army, and their commanders had been chosen by Heydrich from the S.S. élite with academic degrees. Hence the problem was how to overcome not so much their conscience as the animal pity by which all normal men are affected in the presence of physical suffering. The trick used by Himmler — who apparently was rather strongly afflicted by these instinctive reactions himself — was very simple and probably very effective; it consisted in turning these instincts around, as it were, in directing them toward the self. So that instead of saying: What horrible things I did to people!, the murderers would be able to say: What horrible things I had to watch in the pursuance of my duties, how heavily the task weighed upon my shoulders!
Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, ch. 6 (1963)More info about this quote: wist.info/arendt-hannah/13940/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hannaharendt #banalityofevil #burden #difficulty #duty #genocide #Holocaust #killer #murder #murderer #persuasion #pity #selfcenteredness #selfdeception #selfpity #task #selfjustification
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A quotation from Hannah Arendt
What stuck in the minds of these men who had become murderers was simply the notion of being involved in something historic, grandiose, unique (“a great task that occurs once in two thousand years”), which must therefore be difficult to bear. This was important, because the murderers were not sadists or killers by nature; on the contrary, a systematic effort was made to weed out all those who derived physical pleasure from what they did. The troops of the Einsatzgruppen had been drafted from the Armed S.S., a military unit with hardly more crimes in its record than any ordinary unit of the German Army, and their commanders had been chosen by Heydrich from the S.S. élite with academic degrees. Hence the problem was how to overcome not so much their conscience as the animal pity by which all normal men are affected in the presence of physical suffering. The trick used by Himmler — who apparently was rather strongly afflicted by these instinctive reactions himself — was very simple and probably very effective; it consisted in turning these instincts around, as it were, in directing them toward the self. So that instead of saying: What horrible things I did to people!, the murderers would be able to say: What horrible things I had to watch in the pursuance of my duties, how heavily the task weighed upon my shoulders!
Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, ch. 6 (1963)More info about this quote: wist.info/arendt-hannah/13940/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hannaharendt #banalityofevil #burden #difficulty #duty #genocide #Holocaust #killer #murder #murderer #persuasion #pity #selfcenteredness #selfdeception #selfpity #task #selfjustification
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The least pain in our little finger gives more concern and uneasiness than the destruction of millions of our fellow beings.
William Hazlitt (1778-1830) English writer
Essay (1829-10), “American Literature — Dr. Channing,” Edinburgh Review, Vol. 50, No. 99, Art. 7More info about this quote: wist.info/hazlitt-william/1423…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hazlitt #williamhazlitt #compassion #concern #discomfort #pain #perspective #pity #scale #selfabsorption #selfcenteredness #selffocus #selfimportance #selfpity #selfishness
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The least pain in our little finger gives more concern and uneasiness than the destruction of millions of our fellow beings.
William Hazlitt (1778-1830) English writer
Essay (1829-10), “American Literature — Dr. Channing,” Edinburgh Review, Vol. 50, No. 99, Art. 7More info about this quote: wist.info/hazlitt-william/1423…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hazlitt #williamhazlitt #compassion #concern #discomfort #pain #perspective #pity #scale #selfabsorption #selfcenteredness #selffocus #selfimportance #selfpity #selfishness
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The least pain in our little finger gives more concern and uneasiness than the destruction of millions of our fellow beings.
William Hazlitt (1778-1830) English writer
Essay (1829-10), “American Literature — Dr. Channing,” Edinburgh Review, Vol. 50, No. 99, Art. 7More info about this quote: wist.info/hazlitt-william/1423…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hazlitt #williamhazlitt #compassion #concern #discomfort #pain #perspective #pity #scale #selfabsorption #selfcenteredness #selffocus #selfimportance #selfpity #selfishness
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The least pain in our little finger gives more concern and uneasiness than the destruction of millions of our fellow beings.
William Hazlitt (1778-1830) English writer
Essay (1829-10), “American Literature — Dr. Channing,” Edinburgh Review, Vol. 50, No. 99, Art. 7More info about this quote: wist.info/hazlitt-william/1423…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hazlitt #williamhazlitt #compassion #concern #discomfort #pain #perspective #pity #scale #selfabsorption #selfcenteredness #selffocus #selfimportance #selfpity #selfishness
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#NickClegg, former Deputy Prime Minister and Meta executive, discusses his views on #socialmedia, #politics, and #SiliconValley culture. He believes social media empowers people but acknowledges its challenges. Clegg criticises the “#techbro” culture for its #machismo and #selfpity, contrasting it with his upbringing in a privileged but grounded family. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/aug/23/facebook-nick-clegg-tech-bros-trump-leaving-silicon-valley?eicker.news #tech #media #news
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Over and over in my mind preside
the dark and somber moods Love puts me through.
Self-pity broods, so I have often cried,
“Alas, do other people feel this too?”
[Spesse fiate vegnonmi a la mente
le oscure qualità ch’Amor mi dona,
e venmene pietà, sì che sovente
io dico: «Lasso!, avviene elli a persona?»]Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) Italian poet
La Vita Nuova [Vita Nova; New Life], ch. 16 / Sonnet 7, ll. 1-4 (c. 1294, pub. 1576) [tr. Frisardi (2012), ch. 9]Sourcing, notes, alternate translations: wist.info/dante-alighieri-poet…
#quote #quotes #quotation #anguish #depression #despair #infatuation #love #lovesick #melodrama #passion #sadness #selfpity #torment
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“I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself”.
Apparently, the king AND queen of whining and selfpity in the White House has never read D.H. Lawrence.
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A quotation from Walter M. Miller, Jr.
To mourn is to pity oneself. The dead feel nothing. The mourner does not pity the dead. He pities himself for having lost the living.
Walter M. Miller Jr. (1923-1996) American science fiction writer
“The Soul-Empty Ones,” Astounding Science Fiction (1951-08)Sourcing, notes: wist.info/miller-walter-m/7444…
#quote #quotes #quotation #bereaved #death #grief #loss #mourning #selfpity
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‘Nobody #loves me’:
Expert shares a #counterintuitive way to respond to your #child’s #selfpityThe #kneejerkreaction to make them #feelbetter isn't always right.
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‘Nobody #loves me’:
Expert shares a #counterintuitive way to respond to your #child’s #selfpityThe #kneejerkreaction to make them #feelbetter isn't always right.
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‘Nobody #loves me’:
Expert shares a #counterintuitive way to respond to your #child’s #selfpityThe #kneejerkreaction to make them #feelbetter isn't always right.
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‘Nobody #loves me’:
Expert shares a #counterintuitive way to respond to your #child’s #selfpityThe #kneejerkreaction to make them #feelbetter isn't always right.
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‘Nobody #loves me’:
Expert shares a #counterintuitive way to respond to your #child’s #selfpityThe #kneejerkreaction to make them #feelbetter isn't always right.
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CW: Bunch of personal stuff, some kind of whiny
Sometimes I think of how many physical/mental strikes I had against me from birth. This shrimpy* kid with a progressive hearing loss, twisted-up legs, deeply fucked #executiveFunction, who almost died right away from mastitis, who was spanked or whipped almost every day of his life from age 2-12, whose mom probably had a #personalityDisorder and ran an authoritarian dictatorship household (6 kids), whose dad was rarely around and honestly didn't seem all that involved or interested when he was; the kid who went to boarding school (for the #deaf) at age 13 and never felt 100% like part of the family after that...
Sometimes I feel sorry for myself. Other times I feel like Fuck Yeah I'm Still Here (and somehow gainfully employed and have an absofuckinglutely amazing kid).
And I remember that I was also that shrimpy* kid who couldn't stop #reading; who was obsessed with finding out what was true and right; who loved visual, musical, and dramatic #art almost more than life; who played with #words and ideas instead of balls and teammates, who had a mother willing to slap you in the face for disrespect but also willing to fight half a dozen school districts to get her kids into the best classes or #PublicSchool available, whose father didn't seem to like him all that much, but did love him and worked himself almost to death, giving up the career he was passionate about to feed his family.
The mix of #selfPity and gratitude swings wide, sometimes. This morning it's #gratitude.
*No longer shrimpy, starting at about age 25; in fact, kind of chunky since then.
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Day 7 of feeling crap, this time with a morning tease that maybe things are a little better? No! Lie down and be bleary, reprobate!
Anyway, this tiny gift from a plant still waking up from its hot-season dormancy...
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Modern song: "Nobody loves me, everybody hates me, I'm going to the garden to eat worms."
Ancient song: "I am a worm, and not a man; scorned by mankind and despised by the people." (Psalm 22:6)
"What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there anything of which one can say,
“Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time." (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10)
#SelfPity #worms #songs #Bible #NothingNewUnderTheSun -
Modern song: "Nobody loves me, everybody hates me, I'm going to the garden to eat worms."
Ancient song: "I am a worm, and not a man; scorned by mankind and despised by the people." (Psalm 22:6)
"What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there anything of which one can say,
“Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time." (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10)
#SelfPity #worms #songs #Bible #NothingNewUnderTheSun -
UGH I just want to play video games now but it's past the kids bedtime and I have to make sure they're rested for school tomorrow, parenting is so hard! #Whinge #Parenting #SelfPity #CanYouBelieveThisGuy
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UGH I just want to play video games now but it's past the kids bedtime and I have to make sure they're rested for school tomorrow, parenting is so hard! #Whinge #Parenting #SelfPity #CanYouBelieveThisGuy
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UGH I just want to play video games now but it's past the kids bedtime and I have to make sure they're rested for school tomorrow, parenting is so hard! #Whinge #Parenting #SelfPity #CanYouBelieveThisGuy
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UGH I just want to play video games now but it's past the kids bedtime and I have to make sure they're rested for school tomorrow, parenting is so hard! #Whinge #Parenting #SelfPity #CanYouBelieveThisGuy
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UGH I just want to play video games now but it's past the kids bedtime and I have to make sure they're rested for school tomorrow, parenting is so hard! #Whinge #Parenting #SelfPity #CanYouBelieveThisGuy
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D O U B L E V I S I O N
D O U B L E V I S I O NOne in an occasional series of selfies taken in random hotel bathroom mirrors 🪞
This one from the Bloc Hotel at Gatwick captures pretty well how I feel after four nights of shattered sleep due to this horrible cough & resulting sore throat 🤒
Doctor tomorrow when I get home to NL 🩺
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@RedFurBall Thanks, hugs back. Still rocking, crying, and petting myself. #depression #loneliness #SelfPity
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Day 8 of my #SolsticeCountdown and 14 sleeps to the #WinterSolstice It is cold. I have cold 😪🤧 Wallowing in guilt ridden #SelfPity until I’m forced to snap out of it…
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Healthy, godly #grief is, when we enter into #mourning with how #God sees our #hurt and #pain. Healthy grieving is productive and will lead us back to living an abundant #life.
It carries a #promise: #hope for #redemption.Unhealthy mourning on the other hand is what some call #selfpity; caressing or caring for a #wound, but with the wrong #medicine.
It is being built upon a #lie, and thus will not bring #healing. Instead it'll let our wounds #fester and develop #hatred and #bitterness within. -
CW: food # health (-)
now the cookies are finished and they're beautiful and super tasty! but I can't eat them because I have reflux from hell. #food #reflux #healthcrap #boohooohooo #selfpity
