On the Suffering of the World

If the immediate and direct purpose of our life is not suffering then our existence is the most ill-adapted to its purpose in the world: for it is absurd to suppose that the endless affliction of which the world is everywhere full, and which arises out of the need and distress pertaining essentially to life, shoud be purposeless and purely accidental. Each individual misfortune, to be sure, seems an exceptional occurerence; but misfortune in general is the rule.

The above is an excerpt from Arthur Schopenhauer. I find some of his writings quite interesting, but sometimes, I think all philosphers are too long-winded. Perhaps I didn't catch the essense of some parts hence I find them superflous. For instance, the above merely says that the author thinks that suffering is the purpose of our life in this world.

And this belief stems from the author's assumption that there has to be a purpose behind everything and hence since this world is full of suffering, it must be then the purpose in our life.

But then the argument will lead to nowhere if we question this assumption on why there must be a purpose behind everything? The kung fu panda said "There are no accidents!" But what if this world is an accident! Just like some kids are accidents, haha, ok, not funny, I get it, I am very lame. And hence, this is where faith comes in, there has to be a start somewhere and this start is always the faith to believe in one's assumptions, religions or beliefs.... hence the endless conflicts for no amount of logic could dislodge this faith because we are given a lack of information to find answer to the mystery of life.