Human, All Too Human, Part 61 summary
Part 61 of 152 · 1 min to read the part
In 61, the speaker argues that inability to wait drives tragedy, using poets, Ajax, great men, and duels as examples. The argument moves from the calming effect of delay to the claim that a duel can be rational when waiting means unbearable suffering under dishonor.
What happens
- The speaker identifies difficulty in waiting as a central concern for great poets, naming Shakespeare and Sophocles.
- Ajax serves as an example of someone whom a day's cooling of passion might save from suicide.
- The speaker suggests that Ajax could soothe himself by treating his mistake as a common human failing.
- Great men's tragedies often arise from their inability to delay their work rather than from conflict with others.
- Friends advising duelists should ask whether they can wait, since enduring dishonor can seem worse than risking death.
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What should friends advising duelists first establish?
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