“Which is the most universal human characteristic: fear, or laziness?” (Waking Life)

I personally love this quote. I think the quote really captures the essence of the human race. Laziness and fear are both two very complicated actions humans are cabable of. In my opinion, I think fear is the most universal human characteristic. After watching the film Walking Life I have come to realize that laziness in itself is a part of fear. I think a lot of the time laziness prevents people from obtaining something really desired. I know personally that a lot of the time I spend fearing a decision whether it’s getting into college or what my parents think of me, laziness prevents me from actually going for my dream. It was just a few days ago that I was talking with my mom and I was asking why my letter from Southern Connecticut State University hasn’t come yet. My mom simply replied I could check my application status online, but further proving my point, I was too lazy to go find a computer and check. This simple decision, either waiting longer for the letter to come by mail or checking online and finding out right away, is just one example of why fear is the universal human characteristic and laziness is a characteristic within fear. In the end, I find that the above quote really means humans are sometimes afraid to admit something they want or don’t want. Also, laziness is nothing but a road blocker that prevents people from seeing a clear picture of what he or she must do to reach a certain goal. While fear might be harder to overcome, fear is still the bigger issue for humans rather than laziness.

"Sanity is a madness put to good uses; waking life is a dream controlled." (Santayana)

Again, after reading the film Walking Life, this is another quote I admire a lot. I have always thought of dreams to be out of control. Sure I love that quality about dreams, however at the same time; I think there is something in particular about dreams that enable humans to have a “controlled dream” as life itself. When someone dreams, anything can happen. When someone is awake, anything can happen, but what happens cannot be erased nor ignored. Based upon my thoughts about dream I have to agree with waking life is just a dream that is controlled and has rules that have to be followed.
As regards to the other part of the quote, concerning sanity, I think Santayana is brilliant for saying this. Would world peace be great? My answer is of course it would be. However, what people don’t see is that it is the fact that there is sanity and madness in this world that makes the world go round. I know there is too much violence in the world today, which I would like to change, but ridding the whole world of all sanity and madness would just be madness itself. Personally, I like the meaning of sanity and madness because both add depth and value to our world. This discussion of the above quote is making me think about the discussion about the short story about the city of Omelas and how even without any conflict or madness, the world is still not a perfect place because there was still one child suffering. I really do believe sanity and madness are both put to good use in the world today, I just think it wouldn’t hurt to have a little less.