They know and do not know, what it is to act or suffer. They know and do not know, that acting is suffering And suffering is action. Neither does the actor suffer Nor the patient act.
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Thomas spells out one of the play's main conflicts when he chides the
Second Priest for speaking harshly to the Chorus right before his
entrance. In the quote, he proposes a dichotomy between acting and
suffering. The former is action, best understood as an individual's
attempt to influence his own fate. The latter is suffering, best
defined as "patience to endure" rather than as a sensation of pain. It
calls to mind the women of the Chorus, who simply assume that what will
come will come. Thomas stresses that these two opposites are
interlinked in the order of the universe, and invokes the concept of the
wheel to suggest that God alone understands its structure. Ultimately,
he will accept in Part I a mindset of active patience, one in which he
wills himself to be submissive to God's will. By fully embracing the
contradiction, he comes closer to transcending the limits of human
existence, thereby nearing the serene existence God enjoys at the center
of the wheel.
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