How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
We were married in the Los Angeles Municipal Courthouse in a beautiful private ceremony. Part of me felt very happy; another part was unaccountably depressed. I awoke in the middle of the night and gently tiptoed out to the balcony of our honeymoon suite. I cried soundlessly. Why did I feel as if I had lost something, as if I had forgotten something important? The feeling was never to leave me. (7.97)
For all its emphasis on letting go of purpose and meaning and goals, Socrates shows Dan that the way of the peaceful warrior still requires effort. You have to develop the discipline to hone your awareness, eat in a healthy way, and so on in order to stay content in the present moment. This passage shows that Dan feels he has betrayed something by beginning a conventional life, perhaps by forgetting Joy or letting his training begin to slip.
Quote #8
Then, from thousands of years away, it all came back, and I felt momentarily saddened by my return to mortal form. Then I realized that it didn't matter—nothing could possibly matter!" (8.71)
Whew! Nothing matters. What a relief! After witnessing his body decompose and thousands of years of history pass, Dan realizes individuals don't add up to all that much in the grand scheme of things. So why worry about anything?
Quote #9
And so I awoke to reality, free of any meaning or any search. What could there possibly be to search for? All of Soc's words had come alive with my death. This was the paradox of it all, the humor of it all, and the great change. All searches, all achievements, all goals, were equally enjoyable, and equally unnecessary." (8.78)
Dan concludes that all goals are equally enjoyable and equally unnecessary. For example, according to him and his teacher, it doesn't matter if you work for a draft resistance movement or a weapons manufacturer. It makes no difference, as Joseph says a few quotes back. Just do your best, be kind, and enjoy the little things in life. We're all going to die anyway. This perspective opens the gate to unreasonable happiness, according to Dan.