Good and Evil

Good and evil are inextricably combined, and one cannot be had without the other. The sum total of the enregy in this universe is like a lake; every wave inevitably leads to a corresponding depression. The sum total is absolutely the same; so to make one man happy is to make another unhappy. External happiness is material and the supply is fixed; so not one grain can be had by one person without taking from another. Only bliss beyond the material world can be had without loss to any. Material happiness is but a transformation of material sorrow. Those who are born in the wave and keep in it do not see the depression and what is there. Never think you can make the world better or happier. The bullock in the oil mill never reaches the wisp of hay tied in front of him; he only grinds out the oil. So we chase the will-o'-the-wisp of happiness, which always eludes us, and we only grind nature's mill, then die merely to begin again. [...] When man finds that all searching for happiness in matter is nonsense, then religion begins. -- Swami Vivekananda in "Inspired Talks"