I recently came across this beautiful quote while reading Alan Watt's "The Wisdom of Insecurity," perhaps for obvious reasons, it has been sticking in my mind for the last few weeks.
I want to write a short review of this not only because it reinforces my philosophy of what it means to be kind but also to point out how difficult it is to actually put this into practice. "To understand all" by itself is, realistically speaking, impossible to achieve. As humans, we are limited by our mental bandwidth and, therefore, have to compromise and deem things as unimportant at the moment to progress throughout the day. This creates a fundamental flaw, and I, too, am guilty of this, which is labeling inner facts that fit our narrative so that the burden of understanding can excuse us. That's why it's easy to hate others. Nothing is more dangerous than an idea if it's the only one you have, but man, does it feel safe. Hence the quote, "Ignorant is bliss."
A man cursed with knowledge, however, might fail to save himself despite being able to save others. To be ignorant is like having a small dagger. You will feel comfortable carrying it around until someone charges at you with a sword. To be knowledgeable is like having an unstable nuke. You will be more powerful at the cost of it, potentially blowing up yourself.
From my current point of view, these are the easy but wrong paths vs. the difficult but right path. But who knows, maybe my future self might say otherwise. Note that this should be a question toward yourself and only yourself. If someone doesn't align with your values, acknowledge that everyone can only be who they are at the moment.
Maybe one of you, a philosophical reader, can help me understand more about this.