Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course, over a great ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair.

I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy - ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of life for a few hours of this joy. I have sought it, next, because it relieves loneliness–that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world into the cold unfathomabl e lifeless abyss. I have sought it finally, because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined. This is what I sought, and though it might seem too good for human life, this is what–at last–I have found.

With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine. And I have tried to apprehend the Pythagorean power by which number holds sway above the flux. A little of this, but not much, I have achieved.

Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a burden to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate this evil, but I cannot, And I Too Suffer.

This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance was offered me.

Why do I live?

[ English] Russell

Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have dominated my life. That is the desire for love, the pursuit of knowledge, and the heartfelt pity for human suffering. These passions, like strong winds, have spread me over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the verge of despair, leaving my life aimless. I pursue love, first of all, because it makes me lose my soul. The fascinating charm of love makes me often willing to sacrifice everything else in my life for a few hours of such happiness. I have sought love, next, because it relieves loneliness-the terrible loneliness that one shivering soul feels when looking over the rim of the world into the cold lifeless abyss. I have sought love, finally, because the union of love has brought me in a mystic miniature to see the paradise once imagined by saints and poets. This is what I pursue. Although human life seems unworthy of it, it is what I finally found.

I pursue knowledge with the same enthusiasm. I want to understand the human mind. I want to understand why the stars are brilliant. I also want to understand the power of Pythagoras theory, which makes me dominate the impermanence. I have made some achievements in this field, but not much.

as long as love and knowledge exist, they always lead upward to heaven. However, pity always brings me back to earth. The cries of pain echoed in my heart, children were tortured by famine, innocent people were tortured by oppressors, lonely and helpless old people became hateful burdens in the eyes of their sons, and loneliness, poverty and suffering were everywhere in the world-all of these mocked the life that human beings should live. I long to reduce evil, but I can't, so I feel pain.

this has been my life. I think this life is worth living. If it is really possible to give me another chance, I will gladly do it again.