For me personally, this book is a constant battle between statements and explanations that I completely understand and that have meaning to me, and those that go right over my head. Fortunately, these two chapters supplied me with plenty of lessons that spoke to me, and they further proved that the book will get better and easier to understand as it goes on. In chapter 4, my favorite of these two, the first thing that spoke to me was a quote from Sigmund Freud's memorial that states, "The voice of reason is small, but very persistent." Whether or not other philosophers and theologians associate themselves with this statement, as Hitchens goes on to explain, does not necessarily matter to me, considering that I can relate to it so well. The voice of reason is small, yet it is probably one of the strongest and most stubborn voices in my head. The other voices are large; the voices that will allow you to be lazy, or bad, or take the easy way out, but the voice of reason will eat away at you until you do the right thing. It is your conscience, and I truly can relate to this quote because I too am someone that enjoys to take the easy way out. However, my voice of reason always comes through, and with a sigh, I usually listen to it.
A second part of this chapter that truly resonated with me and my life (it's starred in my book and all) was a message that said, "Conflict may be painful, but the painless solution does not exist in any case and the pursuit of it leads to the painful outcome of mindlessness and pointlessness…" I literally feel that I should tattoo this on my forehead, or at least write in on my wall in the hopes of living my life this way. The statement could not be more accurate, and it can apply to the little things in our life. There are conflicts everywhere, in our work, exercise, home life, relationships, and more. As said earlier, it is sometimes easier to give up in difficult situations, even though we know that facing these situations will make us better and stronger in the end. I feel that more often than not, I give up in times of struggle; I don't fight for what I want or what I feel is right and I merely settle. This chapter alone has given me more confidence not to do so, and therefore I think it reached its goal.
Finally, in chapter 5, the more confusing of the two, Hitchens discusses the concept of "as if" living. I was very confused by this throughout the chapter until it was compared to the great Rosa Parks. Hitchens writes, "…Rosa Parks (after some arduous dress rehearsals of her own) decided to act "as if" a hardworking black woman could sit down on a bus at the end of the day's labor." I know understand that this way of living is almost like living sarcastically, or "behaving literally" and acting "ironically" as Hitchens has put it. It is a person's way of standing up to authority simply by living out what is morally right. People have been doing this since the beginning of time, and from Rosa's example alone, we can see how it truly changed the world.
Overall, these chapters spoke extremely personally to me; they did their job of getting me to think about my life choices and make ones that will allow me more freedom and a more content state of mind.
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