One might think that this is very hard, that it is very cruel on the part of the teacher; but the instructor had also to go through the same cruelty at a certain period of his life. Sometimes the greatest cruelty is the greatest kindness; it is hard, but the hardest path can be conquered in this way. And how many times do we take to heart unnecessary things; how many times do we cause, of take interest in, disharmony which could just as well have been avoided? How often do we refrain from evil which we could just as well have refrained from? This is all playing life, and the other is playing death.