“Perhaps the greatest faculty our minds possess is the ability to cope
with pain. Classic thinking teaches us of the four doors of the mind,
which everyone moves through according to their need.
First is
the door of sleep. Sleep offers us a retreat from the world and all its
pain. Sleep marks passing time, giving us distance from the things that
have hurt us. When a person is wounded they will often fall unconscious.
Similarly, someone who hears traumatic news will often swoon or faint.
This is the mind's way of protecting itself from pain by stepping
through the first door.
Second is the door of forgetting. Some
wounds are too deep to heal, or too deep to heal quickly. In addition,
many memories are simply painful, and there is no healing to be done.
The saying 'time heals all wounds' is false. Time heals most wounds. The
rest are hidden behind this door.
Third is the door of madness.
There are times when the mind is dealt such a blow it hides itself in
insanity. While this may not seem beneficial, it is. There are times
when reality is nothing but pain, and to escape that pain the mind must
leave reality behind.
Last is the door of death. The final resort. Nothing can hurt us after we are dead, or so we have been told.”
―
Patrick Rothfuss,
The Name of the Wind
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