This little bit from William James is resonating with me today. Describing the world as seen by those people he calls “sick souls” he says:
So the world stamps us at every turn. We strew it with our blunders, our misdeeds, our lost opportunities, with all the memorials of our inadequacy to our vocation. And with what a damning emphasis does it then blot us out! No easy fine, no mere apology or formal expiation, will satisfy the world’s demands, but every pound of flesh exacted is soaked with all its blood.
via “The Healthy-Minded & Sick Soul” — Philosophical Society.