Why does Bulgakov consider cowardice the most terrible vice. Unsurpassed quotes from the novel “The Master and Margarita”
After a geophysical catastrophe that destroyed the previous civilization (Atlantis), the restoration of the lifestyle desired by its owners and mentors began. Some progress has been made. Magic and “polytheistic” egregorial religious cults (the basis of social magic) flourished again. Egypt became the intellectual capital of the ancient world. It seemed that it was possible to move on to spreading this way of life on a global scale and creating a single global civilization uniting all of humanity under the supremacy of Egypt.
And suddenly a 14-year-old boy, having ascended the Egyptian throne under the name Amenhotep IV, declares: “All your “gods” are fiction. There is no God except the One Supreme God, the Merciful Creator and Almighty.” He takes the new name Akhenaten and begins to build a culture in Egypt, based under his leadership on a different morality and worldview of Life, and not posthumous existence, as was the case in Egypt before and after him. The blow was so strong that Akhenaten achieved success for some time.
Then Akhenaten’s opponents recovered from their stupefaction and began to counteract. Akhenaten was poisoned with slow-acting poisons that distorted the physiological structure of his body (this is the reason for the effeminacy of his body with age). After his death, they began to destroy his legacy. His name was doomed to oblivion, for which purpose all mentions of him were scraped out from all papyri in circulation, erased from stone sculptures and wall paintings. And he was indeed forgotten for thousands of years until archaeologists established that there was in history a monotheistic pharaoh who preached peace and joy in harmony with God throughout the entire Earth, who refused to wage war.
But after what happened, the “secret” masters and mentors of civilization decided that if they could not prevent the announcement in society ideas of Monotheism and harmony between people and God, then from now on they should take on the mission of preaching “monotheism”, which will make it possible to give it a direction that meets their interests. This is how the “Revelation” to Moses and all subsequent “Revelations” given through the so-called prophets, messengers, etc. arose.
Which of the “prophets” himself erroneously or deliberately falsely stated that only through him God tells other people His truth, and all other people are deprived of direct admonition from Above, or to which of the “prophets” such a view was attributed by the people themselves (companions and descendants), has no significance for the culture of mankind, although many of the “prophets” find it difficult to survive the Day of Shame. The same applies to the elevation of certain people personally to the rank of gods or God.
What matters is that the cults of monotheism, going back to the “Revelation” to Moses, are united in intimidation an endless hell for all who do not recognize their Divine origin or express their will by stepping over their commandments - the norms of life for individuals and society prescribed by them.
In addition, they all hush up an extremely unpleasant fact for their “unmanifested” (“secret”) masters: the 14-year-old boy Amenhotep, who had no life experience characteristic of maturity, inspired by the truth from Above, escaped from their captivity, NOT AFRAID neither the court of Osiris, nor the hierarchy of the cult leaders of Egypt, traditionally called the “priesthood”, contrary to the essence of what they did.
And all the cult creeds of “monotheism” deny the truth of this:
- that all people, with all the differences in their physical, intellectual, mental development, in their education, knowledge, skills, always and everywhere according to their purpose - Messengers of the Most High God one to another and God's vicegerents on Earth;
- What people shy away from from viceroyal and envoy missions only under the influence of various fears, including unjustified fear of God. But not these obsessions of fears, but one's own cowardice suppresses conscience and shame in people, as a result of which they do not accept the Truth-Truth, which God gives to everyone directly into his inner world through conscience, through appeals to them from other people, through the works and monuments of a culture common to all;
- That God has not given up on anyone and will not give up, and never deprives anyone of His attention, care and mercy, but out of cowardice, submitting to obsessions fears, people choose to refuse His attention and care for them.
And the thesis about cowardice as the worst vice is repeatedly proclaimed in the novel by M. A. Bulgakov:
"…And cowardice, undoubtedly, is one of the most terrible vices. This is what Yeshua Ha-Nozri said. No, philosopher, I object to you: this is the worst vice.
For example, the current procurator of Judea was not a coward, but a former tribune in the legion, then, in the Valley of the Virgins, when the furious Germans almost killed the Giant Rat Slayer. But, have mercy on me, philosopher! Do you, with your intelligence, admit the idea that because of a man who committed a crime against Caesar, the procurator of Judea would ruin his career?
“Yes, yes,” Pilate moaned and sobbed in his sleep.
Of course it will ruin you. In the morning I wouldn’t have destroyed it yet, but now, at night, having weighed everything, I agree to destroy it. He will do anything to save a completely innocent dreamer and doctor from execution!
“Now we will always be together,” a ragged philosopher-tramp told him in a dream, who, in some unknown way, stood on the road of a horseman with a golden spear.”
Pilate went through shame in a dream and rethought everything. And if in the future he lived in accordance with the truth that came to him in a dream, and was able to free himself from everything that prevented him on the morning of the 14th of the spring month of Nisan from supporting Providence, then what Yeshua said to him in a dream came true: “We will always be together now”.
This is liberation: Pilate came to the kingdom of truth, the coming of which he did not believe on the morning of the 14th day of the spring month of Nisan, and having come to the kingdom of truth, he became immune from jurisdiction.
All further stories in the story “about Pilate” about a figure sitting in a chair on a rock under the moon for two thousand years, about the master’s liberation of Pilate, about the vision of Pilate and Yeshua going to the Moon in a dream by Professor Ponyrev - obsessions from Woland.
What is the truth in people's relationship with God? What happened in Jerusalem at the beginning of the era?
The presented concept of the religious history of the current global civilization leads to the question:
How to treat the information contained in imitations of “Revelations from Above,” recorded in the “sacred scriptures,” if it at least partly stems from opponents of God’s Providence?
The answer to this is the simplest of all related to the novel:
Treat everything without cowardice according to your conscience, since everything that God leads a person to (as well as everything that God brings to a person by mercy or permission) is given to a person for instruction, and this should not be neglected.
And this is true, because cowardice is the worst vice. Cowardice brings to life lack of will; lack of will - obsession; obsession - despair, which, in turn, aggravates cowardice, leading man more and more away from God.
In addition, “2x2=4” - regardless of:
Has a person reached this point with his own mind?
Did the Almighty tell him this in Revelation;
Did the devil teach him this knowledge in pursuit of his own interests;
Or the angel of God told, fulfilling Providence.
In other words, information in line with Predestination from Above objective, i.e. has a self-sufficient essence. That's why, what is true is true, and what is false is false, regardless of the information relay.
There is only one exception: God does not lie, under any circumstances, but always tells man the Truth-Truth in all languages of the comprehensive Language of Life.
A person himself, in all life circumstances, must sincerely answer in harmony with his mind and heart the question “what is truth?” At the same time, gaining experience from his mistakes, a person must correct his moral and ethical standards, in which God helps him.
Note: Chapter 5 from the analytical work of the VP of the USSR “The Master and Margarita”: a hymn to demonism? or the Gospel of selfless faith" (abbreviated). The book can be purchased at the KPE headquarters or taken from the website
It is stunning in its depth and comprehensiveness. Satirical chapters in which Woland's retinue fools the Moscow inhabitants are mixed in the novel with lyrical chapters dedicated to the Master and Margarita. The fantastic in the novel peeks out from behind the everyday, evil spirits walk the streets of Moscow, the beautiful Margarita turns into a witch, and the administrator of the Variety Show becomes a vampire. The composition of “The Master and Margarita” is also unusual: the book consists of two novels: the actual novel about the tragic fate of the Master and four chapters from the Master’s novel about Pontius Pilate.
The “Yershalaim” chapters represent the substantive and philosophical center of the novel. The novel about Pilate refers the reader to the text of Holy Scripture, but at the same time creatively rethinks the Gospel. There are important differences between his hero Yeshua Ha-Nozri and the Jesus of the Gospels: Yeshua has no followers except the former tax collector Levi Matthew, a man "with a goat's parchment" who records Ha-Nozri's speeches, but "writes it down incorrectly." Yeshua, when interrogated by Pilate, denies that he entered the city on a donkey, and the crowd greeted him with shouts. The crowd most likely beat up the wandering philosopher - he comes to interrogation with his face already disfigured. Moreover, Yeshua is not the main character of the Master’s novel, although his preaching of love and truth is undoubtedly important for the philosophy of the novel. The main character of the “Yershalaim” chapters is the fifth procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate.
The main moral issues of the novel are associated with the image of Pontius Pilate, such as the problem of conscience and power, cowardice and mercy. A meeting with Yeshua changes the procurator's life forever. In the interrogation scene, he is almost motionless, but the external staticity further emphasizes his excitement, the dynamism and freedom of his thoughts, the intense internal struggle with the principles and laws familiar to him. Pilate understands that the “wandering philosopher” is innocent, he passionately wants to talk with him longer. He sees in Yeshua an intelligent and truthful interlocutor, is carried away by the conversation with him, for a moment forgetting that he is conducting an interrogation, and Pilate’s secretary drops the parchment in horror, hearing the conversation of two free people. The revolution in Pilate's soul is symbolized by the swallow that flies into the hall during the conversation between the procurator and Yeshua; her fast and easy flight symbolizes freedom, in particular freedom of conscience. It was during her flight that the decision to justify the “wandering philosopher” arises in Pilate’s head. When the “law of lese majeste” intervenes in the matter, Pilate “with a wild gaze” sees off the same swallow, realizing the illusory nature of his freedom.
Pilate's internal torment occurs because his power, practically unlimited in Judea, is now becoming his weak point. Cowardly and vile laws, like the law of insulting Caesar, order him to sentence the philosopher to execution. But his heart, his conscience tells him about Yeshua’s innocence. The concept of conscience is closely connected in the novel with the concept of power. Pilate cannot sacrifice his career in order to save the “fool” Yeshua. So it turns out that the outwardly omnipotent procurator, who inspires horror in his servants, turns out to be powerless when it comes to the laws of conscience, and not the state. Pilate is afraid to protect Yeshua. The image of the Roman emperor appears before the procurator in the semi-darkness of the palace like a terrible ghost: “...on his bald head sat a rare-toothed crown; there was a round ulcer on the forehead, corroding the skin and covered with ointment; a sunken, toothless mouth with a drooping, capricious lower lip.” For the sake of such an emperor, Pilate has to condemn Yeshua. The procurator feels almost physical torment when, standing on the platform, he announces the beginning of the execution of criminals, everyone except Bar-Rabban: “A green fire flared up under his eyelids, his brain caught fire...”. It seems to him that everything around him has died, after which he himself experiences real spiritual death: “... it seemed to him that the sun, ringing, burst above him and filled his ears with fire. Roars, squeals, groans, laughter and whistles raged in this fire.”
After the execution of the criminals took place, Pilate learns from the faithful Afranius that during the execution Ha-Nozri was laconic and said only that “among human vices, he considers cowardice to be one of the most important.” The procurator understands that Yeshua read his last sermon for him; his excitement is revealed by a “suddenly cracked voice.” The Horseman Golden Spear cannot be called a coward - several years ago he saved the giant Ratkiller by rushing to his aid in the midst of the Germans. But spiritual cowardice, fear for one’s position in society, fear of public ridicule and the wrath of the Roman emperor are stronger than fear in battle. Too late, Pilate overcomes his fear. He dreams that he is walking next to the philosopher on the moonbeam, arguing, and they “do not agree with each other on anything,” which makes their argument especially interesting. And when the philosopher tells Pilate that cowardice is one of the most terrible vices, the procurator objects to him: “this is the most terrible vice.” In a dream, the procurator realizes that he now agrees to “ruin his career” for the sake of “an innocent, crazy dreamer and doctor.”
Having called cowardice “the most terrible vice,” the procurator decides his fate. Punishment for Pontius Pilate becomes immortality and “unheard-of glory.” And 2000 years later, people will still remember and repeat his name as the name of the man who condemned the “wandering philosopher” to execution. And the procurator himself sits on a stone platform and sleeps for about two thousand years, and only on a full moon is he tormented by insomnia. His dog Bunga shares his punishment for "an eternity." As Woland will explain this to Margarita: “... whoever loves must share the fate of the one he loves.”
According to the Master's novel, Pilate tries to atone for Yeshua by ordering the death of Judas. But murder, even under the guise of just revenge, contradicts Yeshua’s entire life philosophy. Perhaps Pilate’s thousand-year punishment is connected not only with his betrayal of Ha-Nozri, but also with the fact that he “did not listen to the end” of the philosopher, did not fully understand him.
At the end of the novel, the Master lets his hero run along the moonbeam to Yeshua, who, according to Woland, read the novel.
How is the motive of cowardice transformed in the “Moscow” chapters of the novel? One can hardly accuse the Master of cowardice, who burned his novel, abandoned everything and voluntarily went to a mental hospital. This is a tragedy of fatigue, unwillingness to live and create. “I have nowhere to escape,” the Master answers Ivan, who suggested that it would be easy to escape from the hospital, possessing, like the Master, a bunch of all the hospital keys. Perhaps Moscow writers can be accused of cowardice, because the literary situation in Moscow in the 30s of the 20th century was such that a writer could only create things pleasing to the state, or not write at all. But this motive appears in the novel only as a hint, a guess of the Master. He admits to Ivan that from the critical articles addressed to him it was clear that “the authors of these articles are not saying what they want to say, and that this is what causes their rage.”
Thus, the motive of cowardice is embodied mainly in the novel about Pontius Pilate. The fact that the Master's novel evokes associations with the biblical text gives the novel a universal significance and imbues it with cultural and historical associations. The novel's problematics endlessly expand, incorporating all human experience, forcing every reader to think about why cowardice turns out to be “the worst vice.”
“Do not be afraid of friends - in the worst case, they can betray you. Be afraid of the indifferent - they do not kill or betray, but only with their tacit consent does betrayal and murder exist on earth”
In Moscow, on Bolotnaya Square, an ensemble of sculptures “Children - Victims of the Vices of Adults” was installed.
"The composition was conceived and implemented by me as a symbol and call to the fight for the salvation of current and future generations. I, as an artist, with this work urge you to look around, hear and see what is happening. And before it’s too late, sensible and honest people need to think about it. Don’t be indifferent, fight, do everything to save the future of Russia.”
Mikhail Shemyakin
It’s as if these freaks have crawled out of the swamp, mud, and viscous mud of everyday life, stretching their gnarled hands towards the viewer, trying to drag them to the bottom... Here - Drug Addiction, Prostitution, Drunkenness, Sadism. To the left of the center are 6 statues, to the right are 6 others. What's in the center?
And in the center is a figure, looking in two directions at the same time and covering his ears in unwillingness to listen and hear, standing above everyone else. This is the most terrible of the vices of our time, primarily because of it, the amount of grief, suffering, death, and disasters in the world is increasing every second. And we breed this sin with every step we take, often without even noticing it.
Who is this figure? Mikhail Shemyakin put the most terrible vice of our time in the center - Indifference.
It is blind, it is deaf, there is no world around it. “The house is on edge”, “the matter is a side”, “they will sort it out without me”, “pass by”, “think about yourself” - these phrases today regulate all people’s behavior. “Take care of yourself, be careful...” An activity that does not bring in money is funny... We say without thinking: “Everything is fine,” forgetting that synonyms for “norm” are “no way,” “ordinary,” “gray,” “standard”, “faceless”. The society of normal people is scary.
*** I don’t know how to excite you in the depths of your apartments,
How to disturb, what kind of dusts?
But I know that if the world perishes tomorrow,
he will die only through your fault, indifferent ones!
***
When does a person become indifferent?
Then, when holy concepts turn for him
Into the usual set of words, into an empty sound.
Holy concepts such as Motherland, love, veteran, mercy, memory, mother.
*** The most terrible indifference is indifference to your own mother. Indifference, resentment, misunderstanding - very often these qualities accumulate in us, and a loved one becomes a stranger. Mother . We are always in her debt. Busy, always preoccupied with our affairs, always ready to sacrifice her peace and well-being for us, accepting our joys and sorrows as her own - no, closer than her own! But we are in a hurry, in a hurry and forget to say something to mom, kiss her, take her care of us for granted, putting off gratitude for later.
The easiest way to offend your mother is
She won't answer with offense
And he will only repeat:
“Don’t catch a cold, it’s windy today!”
*** Indifference… But what about the memory of those who remained in the earth forever, and who live next to us. About the soldiers who gave us peace. Where do young people come from in Russia who attach vile symbols to themselves, forgetting about those 20 million who...
The war has passed, gone around the corner,
Guards banners are in cases.
Both life and time move forward.
Only twenty million were left behind.
*** Maybe the adults, protecting the fragile, impressionable soul of the child, did not tell him the truth about the war, about fascism, about human grief, maybe he himself believed that these were “things of bygone days,” and now there are much more interesting and important things to do.
There are names and there are dates
They are full of imperishable essence.
We are guilty of them in everyday life.
Do not make excuses for guilt on holidays.
*** And this is not the person’s fault alone. People have become indifferent to small tragedies. Previously, when a child walked alone down the street, passers-by would certainly ask if he was lost and if everything was okay. Now they are just passing by. The pain threshold in society has increased. To cry today we need to see something monstrous.
We look through distorting mirrors
And we see life as a clot of darkness,
Not distinguishing any heat at all,
No happiness, no love, no beauty.
And the kindness in those mirrors is a deception,
Pretense and destructive evil...
So why do we look through the fog
To deceitful, corrupt glass?
Why notice the bad in people?
And talk about other people's mistakes?
Why burn out of black envy,
Shower streams of hatred at everyone?
We just stopped respecting
Appreciate goodness, laugh and love.
We gradually began to forget
What does it mean in the full sense of the word -
LIVE!
*** We are sometimes afraid to give a penny to a beggar, to show even the slightest concern for the humiliated. No, you cannot be afraid to do good. This will make us happier and brighter. If we did something from the bottom of our hearts, sincerely pitied the person and did not humiliate him, then we will remember his grateful look. No matter how hard it was for us from our inner experiences, we managed to find spiritual strength within ourselves, break away from them, and help someone who suffers more than us. By passing through ourselves the pain of another person, a stranger to us, we are cured of our own pain. This is mercy, which is built on respect and a sense of compassion and involvement with a person.
A compassionate attitude towards everything that surrounds us: towards people, towards nature, towards animals, birds, fish, even insects, is manifested in actions. We need to learn to give warmth, kindness, mercy, and it will definitely return to us a hundredfold. It is important to find peace in your soul, where there is no anger and aggression, indifference and hatred.
*** ...rallies, demonstrations of solidarity!And yet sometimes we hear: “Who needs all this? These rallies and demonstrations of solidarity are a waste of time! What's the point? With more voice, with less voice...” But this is indifference. “Small?” no, indifference is always dangerous, in any form.
*** There is such a disease: “hospitalism”. A girl, smart and the favorite of all the staff, died in the hospital. The unfortunate “abandoned” child, who was three years old, died from this disease. And she is not the first and probably not the last. This disease develops because there is simply no one to caress the child, sing a song, or kiss him goodnight. With all the love the nurses had for her, they had no time for the child when there were so many worries; The main thing is that he is fed and dry. But the entire staff was shocked. Die from inattention. Isn't it scary? This is what children can die from.
*** And here is another case.
A girl was accosted by hooligans on the street. It was still light, there were a lot of people around. Everyone walked by and pretended not to notice anything. Only one young man came up and tried to calm the hooligans down. A fight ensued. No one came to help. When one of the hooligans pulled out a knife, the girl screamed. No one came in response to the cry. The hooligans wounded the young man with a knife and ran away. The ambulance didn't have time to arrive. This indifference and fear of those around him killed the young man. And there are a lot of such stories.
*** If at first we simply ignore the grief of others, drown out the voice of our own conscience, convincing ourselves that later we will make up for lost time, but for now we already have a lot of worries, then we will kill ourselves the most valuable quality is the ability to do good. This hardens our heart, covers it with an impenetrable crust through which pleas for help can no longer break through.
*** People, be kind to each other, be sensitive! Morality and kindness are great forces, and we must understand them correctly. Goodness educates and exalts a person, anger and indifference humiliate him.
“If you are indifferent to the suffering of others, you do not deserve the name of a person,” said Saadi. But is it really that bad?
*** Many people like to sit in front of the TV and discuss the situation in the world, sympathize, groan... But there are other people...
A veteran of the Great Patriotic War sent all the honey collected from his apiary to a military hospital for soldiers wounded in Chechnya.
- The Children's Hearts Charitable Foundation was created to help children with congenital heart defects.
- The initiative group “Donors for Children” is focused on finding blood donors for patients of the Hematology Center of the Russian Children's Clinical Hospital.
....
We take purity and simplicity from the ancients.
We bring sagas and tales from the past.
Because good remains good
In the past, future and present!
Everyone wants to live in a country where it’s not scary to go outside, where you can calmly walk in the park in the evening, where truly works of art are shown on TV, and where we will be calm about our lives, because there will be no indifferent people nearby and every person will lend a helping hand.
Trees do not bear fruit for themselves,
And the rivers do not drink their pure waters,
They don't ask for bread for themselves,
At home they do not keep comfort for themselves.
We will not compare ourselves with them,
But everyone knows, loving this life,
That the more generously you give to people,
The more joyfully you live for yourself.
DEBT THEORY
Cowardice is habitually condemned by society
Many people have heard M. Bulgakov’s phrase that cowardice is the most terrible vice. Well, that’s true. However, it is very bad when, under the pressure of such maxims, a conscientious person gives up on himself after a cowardly act.
Of course, the cats are already scratching at his soul, and in addition, society invisibly repeats to him: “You have reached the most terrible vice!”
But pay attention - after all, Bulgakov hardly condemned anyone. Rather, he simply stated a fact that was obvious to him. And I will allow myself to add to the famous phrase:
Cowardice is the worst of vices if you don’t fight it.
It is not cowardice itself that is immoral, but the unwillingness to resist it.
I repeat - for thousands of years, leaders of all stripes have cultivated cowardice in people using the most cruel means. She has ingrained herself into our soul, she has literally become a part of it! This is why, when we are threatened, we instinctively strive to obey.
Under these conditions, one cannot blame a person who succumbs to cowardice. It would be more correct to honor the one who was able to overcome it!
There is a striking episode in the Gospel when the Apostle Peter denied Christ. Just before this, he passionately convinced the teacher that he would never leave him. To which he will receive the answer: “... Truly I tell you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And so it happened - under the threat of being captured, Peter denied Christ three times - and then the rooster crowed. And Peter, gone, wept bitterly...
So, do we now consider Peter a scoundrel and a traitor? No. Having overcome his fear, he then became a successor to the work of his teacher - and at the end of his life he also accepted martyrdom.
And now I’ll give an excerpt from E.M. Remarque’s book “All Quiet on the Western Front,” which describes the artillery shelling:
“A recruit lying scared to death next to us...
He covered his face with his hands. His helmet rolled to the side.
I pull it up and am going to put it on his head.
He looks up, pushes his helmet away and, like a child,
crawls his head under my armpit, pressing tightly to mine
breasts His narrow shoulders tremble...
Gradually he comes to his senses. Suddenly he turns red like a poppy,
Confusion is written on his face. He carefully touches his hand
pants and looks at me pitifully. I immediately realize what's going on:
he has gun disease. I try to console him:
- There is nothing to be ashamed of; It also happened not like you
shit in their pants when they first came under fire. Go behind the bush
take off your underpants and that’s the end of it...
There is not a drop of blame or condemnation in this episode. Not only gods, but also people are wise, understanding the nature of cowardice and not making a judgment out of it. Cowardice is not bad in itself, but only when you refuse to fight it. In this case, we can safely equate cowardice and laziness of the soul...
Okay - but what should you do if you commit a shameful, cowardly act?
Paradoxically, the first thing to do is to perk up your spirit a little. Thousands and thousands of people are absolutely not ashamed of their cowardice - their weak consciousness is designed in such a way that it instantly displaces all unpleasant memories from their memory.
You are not like that. There is some kind of vigilant watchman in your soul that does not allow you to relax. And this, on the one hand, is good. But on the other hand, you may soon simply overstrain yourself from endless reproaches of your conscience. Especially if you still don’t have enough strength to follow her voice...
I suggest you adopt debt theory . If at some point in your life you did not have the courage to act according to your conscience, write this action down as a liability. Rest assured - fate, seeing the intention to get even with the debts of the past, will definitely provide the opportunity to do this
One of the most striking episodes in my life was when I did not stand up for a woman who was robbed on a bus. When we, tightly squeezed in the car, approached the stop, she became agitated and shouted: “Driver, don’t open the door! My wallet was stolen! I know who stole it - this one!” And she pointed to the big guy next to me, who was grinning and looking away to the side. And I stood right at the door and could well have said: “I’m ready to show my pockets. You do the same, or give me your wallet.” Moreover, I was pressed so tightly against the door that, if I wanted, I could prevent it from opening.
But... The bus pulled up to the stop, the driver, turning his face to the side, opened the door, the big guy immediately jumped out into the street - and was gone...
I was extremely ashamed to remember this episode until I said to myself: “Simply tormenting the soul will not help the matter. They will only wear me down. So I'm writing this episode down as a credit to myself. As soon as I witness such a situation again, I will be ready to intervene in it..."
Almost every one of us has committed cowardly, shameful acts in life. It is commendable to worry about this - but only if the worries lead to a specific positive result.
Cowardice comes only from a lack of...desire
R. Descartes
THEORY OF SMALL CASES
Fear has big eyes
What does this saying mean? Yes, a very simple idea - we tend to exaggerate the scale of the unknown. As Shakespeare said: “Real horrors are not so terrible as the horrors of imagination.”
The main tool for defeating cowardice is practice. If you are afraid of the dark, go into the darkness. If you are afraid of gopniks, reprimand them for swearing in a public place.
But, of course, do it wisely. If you go into the dark, then go into one where there are no swamps and sharp branches. After all, your task is to return alive, healthy and with the experience of victory over cowardice.
If you reprimand a gopnik, do it in a place where those around you can help you if something happens. Yes, and for the first time you should choose a cooler Gopnik - in case of a possible fight.
Starting with small steps, you will gradually feel the ground under your feet more and more confidently. And soon you will realize that you can make comments even to a drunken group in a train compartment - and instead of a fight you will be met with confused looks...
In general, it has long been said that you cannot overcome fear without going through the path that frightens you. Moreover, the more often you find yourself in extreme situations, the faster your body adapts to it. It's all about practice!
Human He fears only what he does not know; with knowledge all fear is overcome.
V. G. Belinsky
HOW SCARY THE HELL IS IT?
Often we do not dare to act only because we have been instilled with the idea of the terrible consequences of the act...
Man is a lazy creature. Having found a more or less comfortable corner in life, we prefer to keep a low profile, so as not to lose even the illusion of well-being. Habit is a terrible thing.
Wife tolerates a drunken husband because she thinks it will be harder for her alone.
Employee tolerates a boorish boss because he’s not sure
will find an equally well-paid job
People tolerates power because it assumes that in the event
disobedience, she will apply the most severe measures of influence to him
So - pay attention: “thinks”, “not sure”, “assumes”... In general, we live by the principle of the immortal phrase: “No matter what happens!” It’s difficult for us to even decide to experiment - what will happen if I do...
So, let's carry it out anyway - for now in safe laboratory conditions. Take a pen, a piece of paper and write the name of the situation at the top. Now, in two columns below, write the pros and cons as a result of its change.
Work calmly, without rushing. Weigh all your options carefully. And it may well turn out that the prospect of being fired from your job is no longer so scary. Or that failure at a public speaking does not threaten disaster at all. Etc.
A separate issue is fights. To be honest, many of us give in to them. Therefore, start by carefully watching video recordings of fights, which, unfortunately, are offered in huge quantities on the Internet today. Then summarize: what characterizes fights? How do they go? What result awaits me if I get into a fight?
After this, you should carefully study expert advice about how to behave in a fight. After this, it’s a good idea to take a self-defense course without weapons - fortunately, there are a lot of them now. And so you will find that your confidence has now increased - to the point that you have mastered the icy ability to extinguish a fight before it starts.
Our the fears are half groundless and half simply shameful.
K. Bovey
IF YOU'RE AFRAID, DON'T DO IT, WHEN YOU DO, DON'T BE AFRAID
In conclusion, I want to say this again:
Only those who feel the strength within themselves should dare to take a bold action. This does not mean that you can enter into a fight with hooligans only after learning kickboxing. But in this case, it is not physical preparation that is important, but mental strength.
History has repeatedly shown examples of how big men and big men retreated from a weaker enemy only because he was not going to give up. Desperate, focused resistance sometimes works wonders. But only internally mature people are capable of such resistance.
So don't rush the time. If you have taken the course of courage, that’s already good. Work tirelessly and consistently towards your goal. Be prepared for failure. Think of them as training and conditioning. Get up from your knees and walk forward again.
And at one point there will come a calm inner feeling that you have already don't be afraid.
Don't be afraid of gopniks.
Don't be afraid to argue with your boss.
Don't be afraid to openly express your position on the forum.
Don't be afraid to live.
In the novel M.A. Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita are two plots. The Moscow chapters depict the writer's contemporary reality of the thirties of the twentieth century. The novel was created in the era of a totalitarian state, during the period of Stalinist repressions. During this terrible time, people disappeared from their apartments without a trace and never returned there. Fear was paralyzing people, and they were afraid to have their own opinion, to openly express their thoughts. Society was gripped by a mass psychosis of spy mania. Atheism became part of state policy, and denunciation was elevated to the rank of virtue. Evil and violence, meanness and betrayal triumphed. The humanist writer believed in the power of good and was confident that evil must be punished.
Therefore, in Moscow in the thirties, with the power of his imagination, he places the devil, who in the novel bears the name Woland. Bulgakov's Satan differs from the traditional image of the devil that exists in religious consciousness. He does not at all persuade people to sin, does not tempt them with temptations. He exposes already existing vices and punishes sinners, bringing just retribution and thus serving the cause of good.
The second plot is presented as a master's novel about Pontius Pilate. To affirm eternal spiritual values, the writer turns to gospel images.
Christian motifs are associated with the images of Yeshua, Pontius Pilate, Levi Matthew and Judas.
Pontius Pilate appears on the pages of the novel in all the majesty of a man with enormous power - “in a white cloak with a bloody lining, with a shuffling cavalry gait,” he goes out into the covered colonnade between the two wings of the palace of Herod the Great.
The Roman governor is the fifth procurator of Judea. He has the right to sign death warrants. And at the same time, M. Bulgakov endows his hero with physical weakness - a painful headache - “hemicrania,” in which half his head hurts. He suffers terribly from an “invincible” disease for which there is no cure, no salvation. In such a painful state, Pontius Pilate begins the interrogation of the “person under investigation from Galilee.” The procurator must approve the death sentence of the Sanhedrin.
The image of Pontius Pilate in the novel is the most complex and contradictory. The name of this hero is associated with the problem of conscience, posed very acutely. Using the example of the image of an all-powerful procurator, the idea is affirmed that “cowardice is the most terrible vice.”
Pontius Pilate is a brave and courageous man, he bravely fought in battle “near Idistavizo, in the Valley of the Virgins.” “The infantry maniple fell into the bag, and if the cavalry tour had not cut in from the flank, and I commanded it, you, philosopher, would not have had to talk to the Rat Slayer,” he says to Yeshua. In battle, the procurator is not afraid of death and is ready to come to the rescue of his comrade. This man is endowed with enormous power, he approves death sentences, the lives of those convicted are in his hands. But, nevertheless, Pontius Pilate admits weakness and shows cowardice, condemning to death a man whose innocence he did not doubt for a minute.
To understand why the hegemon made such a decision, one should turn to the interrogation scene in Herod's palace. Great.
The interrogation episode can be divided into two parts. In the first part, Pontius Pilate decides to abolish the death penalty, since he sees nothing criminal in the actions of the wandering philosopher. Yeshua did not persuade the people to destroy the Yershalaim temple. He spoke figuratively, and the tax collector misunderstood and distorted the philosopher's thought. In the second part of the interrogation, Pontius Pilate faces the moral problem of conscience, the problem of moral choice. On a piece of parchment, the procurator reads a denunciation against Yeshua. Judah of Kiriath asked a provocative question about government power. The wandering philosopher replied that all power is violence, that in the future there will be no power, but the kingdom of truth and justice will come.
The procurator is faced with a choice: not to sign the death warrant means breaking the law on lese majeste; To recognize Yeshua as guilty means to save oneself from punishment, but to condemn an innocent person to death.
For Pontius Pilate, this is a painful choice: the voice of conscience tells him that the arrested person is not guilty. When the procurator read the denunciation, it seemed to him that the prisoner’s head floated away somewhere, and instead of it appeared the bald head of Herod with a rare-toothed golden crown. This vision symbolizes the choice that Pontius Pilate will make. He is trying to somehow save Yeshua by sending “signals” so that he renounces his words about the great Caesar, but the wandering philosopher is used to telling only the truth. The Roman procurator is not internally free, he is afraid of punishment and therefore insincere. “There has never been and never will be a greater and more beautiful power in the world than the power of Emperor Tiberius,” says Pilate and looks with hatred at the secretary and the convoy. He utters words that he does not believe in, fearing the denunciation of witnesses to his interrogation. Pontius Pilate made his choice by approving the death sentence, because he was not ready to take the place of a wandering philosopher, he showed cowardice and cowardice.
The main thing can no longer be changed, and the procurator strives to change at least minor circumstances in order to drown out the pangs of conscience. Showing sympathy for the condemned man, he gives the order to kill Yeshua on the cross so that he does not suffer for a long time. He orders the murder of the informer Judas and the return of the money to the high priest. The procurator is trying to at least somehow make amends for his guilt, to assuage remorse.
An important role in the novel is played by the dream that the Roman procurator saw after the execution of Yeshua. In his dream, he walks accompanied by his dog Banga, the only creature to whom he feels affection. And next to him, along a transparent blue road, a wandering philosopher walks, and they argue about something complex and important, and neither of them can defeat the other. In a dream, the procurator convinces himself that there was no execution. He recalls the words spoken by Yeshua before his execution, which are conveyed by the head of the service, Afaniy: “... among human vices, he considers cowardice to be one of the most important.” In a dream, the procurator objects to the wandering philosopher: “... this is the most terrible vice!” He recalls his bravery in battle: “... the current procurator of Judea was not a coward, but the former tribune in the legion, then, in the Valley of the Virgins, when the furious Germans almost killed the Rat Slayer - the Giant.” In a dream, the procurator makes the right choice. Just this morning he would not have ruined his career because of a man who committed a crime against Caesar. But at night he weighed everything and came to the conclusion that he agreed to destroy himself in order to save “a completely innocent, insane dreamer and doctor” from execution. It is shown here that the procurator repents of his cowardice. He realizes that he has made a terrible mistake. But he is capable of heroism and self-sacrifice. If it were possible to change everything or turn back time, Pontius Pilate would not have signed the death warrant. “We will always be together now,” says Ga-Nozri. We are talking about the same immortality that for some reason the procurator thought about when he read Judas’s denunciation. The immortality of Yeshua lies in the fact that he remained faithful to preaching goodness and ascended to the cross for the sake of people. This is a feat of self-sacrifice. Pilate's immortality lies in the fact that he showed cowardice and, out of cowardice, signed the death warrant of an innocent man. No one would want such immortality. At the end of the novel, the procurator claims that “more than anything in the world he hates his immortality and unheard-of glory.” He says that he would willingly exchange his fate with the ragged vagabond Levi Matvey."
