“I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.”
James Baldwin
What Monsieur Baldwin imagined is precisely on point. People push away their pain. Choosing instead to deal in distractions of delusion and fanciful falsities fanned about like a furious fever. Hate is a disease that will drain its host, permeating every pore. Hate acts as an anesthetic, providing temporary relief from pain. Hate is not a shield, hate is the symptom of pain. We must deal with our pain.