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Adversities, By Sophocles

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The quote, “The keenest sorrow is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities,” by Sophocles, exemplifies the idea of people realizing that they are the blame for all of their problems and difficulties. Essentially, Sophocles wanted people to realize that the saddest thing that you can experience or discover is that you are the cause of all of your own problems. As young children, people would blame others for simple things, such as someone else lying about doing one thing or another. However, at that age or point in our lives, we aren’t yet able to realize that this is a bad thing. As we grow up, we realize and discover that what Sophocles said is true; the only person we can blame for our problems is ourselves. For example, …show more content…
Though it may seem logical to blame yourself for your mistakes, I think that this would lead to people blaming themselves for other’s mistakes. Imagine living a world where the only thing people would do is fight over who is to blame for a situation; each person puts themselves up at blame, and nobody can truly agree who is responsible for an action. Sophocles is not only saying that people will be stuck taking responsibility for all their problems, but also that this will also be the saddest thing that they will discover about themselves and the world they live in. I believe that this means that people will become sad and depressed from doing this. In my opinion, nobody can live a happy life when all they do is recognize everything they do wrong. It is important to be able to critique and correct yourself, however, you should not be constantly scrutinizing over what you have done incorrectly, as it sounds like Sophocles wants people to …show more content…
At the surface, it is clear that the self-esteem of a person may plummet by constantly noting their own flaws and problems, however, below the surface, it becomes clear that someone who is always criticizing their self may become depressed and unhappy. A perfect representation of this a picture of somebody who sees themselves in the shadows of a glass mirror (as pictured in the page above). I believe that this is symbolic to the quote because it is showing that somebody is so focused on the problems that they have caused, as well as internal and external faults. To me, the cracked pieces of glass in the mirror represents the problems and mistakes someone has made. The person examining the mirror shows that they are continuously noting the problems they have caused, no matter how long ago they may have occurred. Lastly, I think the mirror itself represents that your life is always on display for you to see, mistakes and all. The overall concept of having a person looking into the mirror and seeing the shattered glass is to show that the saddest thing you will notice is all the mistakes and errors you have made, as the girl in the mirror sees. To me, this quote should not be followed by generations of living people today. Though it is important to note your flaws, you should never want to constantly be noting your problems; it is rather important to also realize the great characteristics

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