readoldthings

For today, a passage from Paradise Lost. The scene is just before the creation of the Earth. Satan and a third of the angels have rebelled against God, and been defeated. Now the rebel angels, having been cast into Hell, are debating what they should do next. Should they go back to Heaven and beg God for forgiveness?

No, says Satan:


I find that when I am at my worst, my mind is at the root of it; my mind, and the cluttered tangle of emotions and resentments that so often fill it. If I can pause and still myself, I can change my perspective and look at my situation again with fresh eyes. I often then find things aren't as bad as I thought; a little food or water and some fresh air are often enough to turn everything around. But if I insist on clinging to emotion and refusing to change, then I, too, can make a Hell of Heaven. I sometimes even manage the same level of drama-queenliness which Lucifer demonstrates in this passage. "Profoundest Hell, receive thy possessor!"