This pain, this terrible seeing-through that is in me now. It wasn't necessary. It is all pain, and it buys nothing. Gives birth to nothing. All in vain. All wasted. The older the world becomes, the more obvious it is. The bomb and the tortures in Algeria and the starving babies in the Congo. It gets bigger and darker. More and more suffering for more and more. And more and more in vain. John Fowles
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This pain, this terrible seeing-through that is in me now. It wasn't necessary. It is all pain, and it buys nothing. Gives birth to nothing.All in vain.

All wasted.The older the world becomes, the more obvious it is. The bomb and the tortures in Algeria and the starving babies in the Congo. It gets bigger and darker.More and more suffering for more and more.

And more and more in vain."This pain, this terrible seeing-through that is in me now," is one of the most powerful poems written by Rilke, a German poet who wrote in French or translated into French language. The poem has become part of our collective consciousness when millions of people around the world saw the pictures of naked children in orange-colored jumpsuits being transported through airports by United Nations peacekeepers to safety during the Rwandan genocide in 1994. These pictures are still etched in our eyes today because they helped remind us all that there are still many people around the world who are struggling with poverty, war, hunger, genocide, torture and oppression every day of their lives.

Source: The Collector

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