Another insightful saying from the book Everyday Psychology, by Dr Steve Edwards.
“Is life not a hundred times too short for us to bore ourselves?” — Friedrich Nietzsche.
Dr Edwards comments: Boredom is a symptom of our contemporary modern, easily overstimulated world. It is a response to too much readily available superficial stimulation eg. TV games, video, through technology and technocracy in particular, as well as violence, alienation etc. A deeper, or more meaningful philosophy of life, is one alternative to boredom. Planning realistic life tasks and goals is another, action itself is a third.
Contemplation of one’s own death or finitude, as implied in the quotation, is one source of activation. Leo Buscaglia has another alternative: ‘When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot, hang on to it, and swing.’