Misery is wasted on the miserable

Day 221 / 365

Louis CK is an excellent comedian. A while back he created a TV show called Louie. And the greatest thing about that show was not that it was funny, but at times it got so dark and so real, it was almost philosophical. I couldn’t recommend the show enough.

There are a few clips from the show that I keep going back to every once in a while. One such clip you can find on YouTube is titled “Misery is wasted on the miserable”

To give you a little context, in this episode Louie had met a woman from another country who was visiting America. They had a great time together and Louie fell in love with her. But sadly she had to go back. In this clip, Louie is coming back from the airport and he is sad as hell when he meets an old man. Louie asks him that what’s the point of falling in love with someone and being happy for a little while when you know that it’s going to end with you being so miserable. To this, the old guy tells him —

Misery is wasted on the miserable.

Falling in love with someone is not just about the good parts. The part when you miss them when you can’t stop thinking about them is just as important. How fortunate you are to have had something that’s so valuable to you, that losing it makes you miserable. But of course, when you are miserable, at that moment you don’t appreciate this. Which is why misery, such a beautiful thing, is wasted on the miserable.

This post is part of my 365 Day Project for 2019. Read about it here

Yesterday’s blog — The Mona Lisa