One of my favorite quotes so far in Paradise Lost is found in Book One, when Satan and Beelzebub are conversing about losing the glory and beauty of Heaven and finding themselves cast down to Hell:
"The mind is its own place and in itself/ Can make Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven."
I really enjoy this quote because sometimes bad things happen that can really shake you as a person and test your strength to its limit. However, you must have a positive outlook on life and try and make the best of what you are given. Attitude and perspective are key in making your own Heaven out of Hell.
I commented on Sammiera Long's post.
I also liked this quote, because it stirs up the idea of the power of the mind. We can control our minds to the point of convincing ourselves of practically anything. We can either view our thoughts/ minds as a limitation, or as a medium to liberating our ideas.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the mind can help you to make the best out of your situation and attitude is key in changing the perspective from which you see your circumstances. However, my question is can we actually fully control our minds? Or is some part of us controlled by a subconscious over which we have no control? This question stems from the struggle I have to grasp Satan's fall away from God. He was a faithful servant and then decided that he needed power more than he needed God; knowing full well what living in Heaven and being in relationship with the Lord entailed. I can't help but think that there was a part of Satan's mind that certainly wanted to remain one of God's angels, but another part, a part less tangible, worked so hard to convince his whole self that life away from God would be better than life with Him. I think that the idea that you can "make Heaven of Hell" applied to making the best out of a situation is a positive light, but in a more literal sense, if we really are capable of making out Hell into Heaven in our minds...well, that thought terrifies me slightly. The capability to view something as wretched as Hell in a positive light seems more sick and twisted than anything else; and that is what Milton is suggesting is possible by power of our minds. Our minds, that can be used for such good, can also contort something so terrible into something good if we allow them.
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