[The image of Atlas carrying the world] is a representation that says, that that's the proper way to live. That the way that you live properly--so that you can withstand the nature of your own being--is to pick up a load that's heavy enough so if you carry it you have some self-respect. That’s a very weird idea because it's frequently the case that people do everything they can to lighten their load. But the problem with carrying a light load is that then you have nothing that's useful to do. And if you have nothing useful to do, all you have around you--unless you're extremely fortunate, and that will only be the case for a very short periods of time--is meaningless suffering. And, there's nothing worse for your soul than meaningless suffering.

If you look around, you see the people that you respect--and I don't mean that you think about respecting; I mean the ones that you've gut, your whole being, your embodied being tells you to respect--you'll see that it's always people who picked up something heavy and are carrying it successfully. You’ll think, now that's what it means to be a human being. And when you see that, you can think well perhaps life is worthwhile despite the fact that the essential nature of reality is suffering.