It occurred to me – what if a city has a existence of its own – what was the person you were before you encountered a city – have you ever known a life without a city -

First, we have to define what a city is.

Then, we can look at what certain perceptive people have said about their cities, in that time and place – the interplay between their existence and the city surrounding them.

Next, I can look at myself – what is this time and place that I have found myself in – is it the best time and place to be in, for a fulfilling life -

what is a city

From the Encyclopedia Britannica:

a relatively permanent and highly organized centre of population, of greater size or importance than a town or village... In most cases... the concept of city refers to a particular type of community, the urban community, and its culture, known as “urbanism.”

Following that line of thought – what is a community – and what is urbanism – what distinguishes a community in the city, from a community in the country -

From a dictionary:

a community is populated by friendly and caring people.

Following that line of thought – have I met a friendly and caring person recently?

what has been said about cities

In no particular order, I present some quotes.

From Kafka:

these are not concrete and glass, but pebbles on a vast seabed, which represent the crushed hopes and dreams of humanity, decade after decade, generation after generation.

This has been attributed to Kafka. However, educated men note that Kafka's novels are in bad faith – they put up a pretence of meaning, when their premise is an absence of meaning. It is a trick of the novel, which sucks the reader in, only for the reader to realise that there is no happy ending which the novel seems to promise – Kafka's absurdist leanings are spurious.

But it is absurd to be absurdist. There is joy in the everyday, ordinary moment, if you know where to look. This calls for discernment and wisdom – and patience during difficult times.

From Khalil Gibran:

your fathers, out of fear, have fled from the country into the city, and built the walls that have now become your coffin. Thus do parents suffocate their children.

However this is the same Khalil Gibran who wrote that the Qoheleth had made a mistake in writing the Book of Ecclesiastes (included in the Holy Bible).

“meaningless-ness of all meaningless-ness!” cries the Qoheleth, “everything is meaningless!”

“But, no,” Khalil Gibran protests. “it is incorrect to say that there exists meaningless-ness!”

And yet it is true. That is why the myth of Sisyphus still speaks to us today – people feel doomed to see the boulder tumble back down the hill, after they have toiled to push it up the steep hill, under the boiling sun-heat, by the pain in their back, and the sweat on their napes. Educated men note that there are only two responses to the Sisyphean futility: rebellion, or suicide.

Editor's note: it is up to one to ponder what Camus has said about Sisyphus: “one must imagine him to be happy.”

From Thoreau:

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.

This leads to the question – where can I get this supreme, desperation-quelling wisdom?

From Marcus Aurelius:

within your own mind, get rid of the sense of injury, and you will get rid of the injury itself.

Also from Marcus Aurelius:

No annoyance can annoy me unless I let it. No pleasure can weaken me unless I let it.

Thus do I learn that: a city can do no harm to me, unless I choose to let it.

conclusion

ask God – the Biblical, Abrahamic God – for wisdom to live in the city.

Quoting from James, servant of God, and servant of our King Jesus Christ:

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

Yes, the Biblical King Solomon did ask God for wisdom to govern a great people. That is such a great example to follow. (Though Solomon did have his shortcomings – he was lovably imperfect, just like every other human being).

However James cautions:

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

references

1. https://biblehub.com/nkjv/james/1.htm
2. https://biblehub.com/bsb/1_kings/3.htm
3. https://yalebooks.yale.edu/2015/09/16/the-absurdity-of-existence-franz-kafka-and-albert-camus/
4. https://ganeshcr.medium.com/good-time-for-kafka-49a56d21e565
5. https://www.britannica.com/science/community-biology
6. https://www.britannica.com/topic/city
7. A play, titled “Hard Mode”, staged (in 2024) by Checkpoint Theatre, in Singapore.