I love following and listening to Jason Silva for what he has to say about this life we are all living. In this video he explores and in a sense laments the transitory quality of romantic love and how he is still dealing with trying to find a “hack” to help him with the fleeting and passing quality of romantic love.
The “hack” or at least the hack I’ve found that works for me (or at least makes sense to me) comes from the ending of the musical Candide (obviously drawn from Voltaire’s Candide)….
CANDIDE (with force). No. We will not think noble because we are not noble. We will not live in beautiful harmony because there is no such thing in this world, nor should there be. We promise only to do our best and live out our lives. Dear God, that’s all we can promise in truth. Marry me, Cunegonde.
(He sings.)
You’ve been a fool and so have I,
But come and be my wife,
And let us try before we die
To make some sense of life.
We’re neither pure nor wise nor good;
We’ll do the best we know;
We’ll build our house, and chop our wood,
And make our garden grow.
And make our garden grow.CUNEGONDE (sings).
I thought the world was sugar-cake,
For so our master said;
But now I’ll teach my hands to bake
Our loaf of daily bread.CANDIDE and CUNEGONDE (sing).
We’re neither pure nor wise nor good;
We’ll do the best we know;
We’ll build our house, and chop our wood,
And make our garden grow.
And make our garden grow.
(Cast begins slow entry.)PANGLOSS, MAXIMILIAN, OLD LADY, CUNEGONDE, CANDIDE and GOVERNOR (sing).
Let dreamers dream what worlds they please;
Those Edens can’t be found.
The sweetest flowers, the fairest trees
Are grown in solid ground.ENTIRE COMPANY (sings).
We’re neither pure nor wise nor good;
We’ll do the best we know;
We’ll build our house, and chop our wood,
And make our garden grow.
And make our garden grow.
Gardens have their seasons, their ups and downs, but if you properly and diligently attend to them as a farmer or gardener would they will return to bloom again.
(and it’s a great song too and arguably one of the best ending songs to a Broadway Musical ever)