Socrates

            
             Life is the most precious, unique, and complex defining feature of individuals. Its vitality is displayed in our fierce protection of it. Its uniqueness defines who we are as individuals. Finally, its complexity forces us to understand that we are helpless in controlling many aspects that define it. A quest to understand life reduces our existence on earth to a meaningless journey, filled with self-glorification and uneventful occurrences. It is when an individual claiming to have such a profound understanding of life brings this realization to the forefront that knowledge loses its power and becomes dangerous. An individual defining the only meaningful existence motivates the masses into either a frantic pursuit to fulfill the stipulations or to quickly silence the originator of their fear. The ultimate fear is that the time we spend on earth is meaningless without achieving the difficult task of understanding it, and the source of this idea, Socrates.
             "The unexamined life is not worth living." -Socrates.
             This is the quote that affirms my belief in questioning every aspect of life from authoritative figures to the origin of my own opinions. It also strikes fear deep within the hearts of those who conform to another's definition of life; we should choose our path wisely, for we only get one. From the second we are born until our last breath, human nature drives us to explore and grasp the world around us. The exploration is a difficult undertaking. It is easy to accept society's pre-conceived definitions. It takes a truly enlightened and courageous person to explore the intangible thoughts. In 5th Century B.C., one man did such a thing and went against common beliefs. He accepted the fate of execution rather than acquiesces and accept life as it was. Socrates preferred succumbing to the Athenian judgment of death, because discontinuing his search for purpose would have been death in itself.