A cucumber is bitter—throw it away. There are briars in the path—turn aside from them. This is enough. Do not add, “And why were such things put into the world?”
If you get one bitter cucumber, asking for its cause may be a waste of time. But if you get a lot of bitter cucumbers, spending some time on changing that might give net positive utility.
--Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 8.50
If you get one bitter cucumber, asking for its cause may be a waste of time. But if you get a lot of bitter cucumbers, spending some time on changing that might give net positive utility.
Why not? It can be useful to know whether they were placed there by a benevolent god or a blind idiot god.