There Are Places in the World Where Rules Are Less Important Than Kindness: And Other Thoughts on Physics, Philosophy and the World

by Carlo Rovelli

I don’t like people who behave well because they fear that otherwise they might end up in hell. I prefer those who behave well because they value good behavior. I don’t trust those who are good for the sake of pleasing God. I prefer those who are good because they actually are good. I don’t like having to respect my fellow men and women because they are children of God. I prefer to respect people because they are beings who feel and suffer. I don’t like those who devote themselves to others, and to justice, thinking that in this way they will please God. I like those who instead devote themselves to others because they feel love and compassion. I’ve never liked feeling in communion with a group of people standing in silence inside a church listening to a service. I like to feel in communion with a group of friends; talking with them, looking into their eyes and their smiles. I don’t like emotion produced by nature because God has made it so beautiful. I like to feel moved by it because it is beautiful. I don’t like to feel consolation in the idea that I will be welcomed by God after my death. I like to look directly at the limited length of our lives, to learn to look at our sister, death, with serenity. I don’t like shutting myself away in silence to pray to God. I like silence in order to listen to the infinite profundity of silence. I don’t like to thank God: I like to wake in the morning, look at the sea and thank the wind, the waves, the sky, the fragrance of plants, ...