Page 144 - Writes of Passage
P. 144
from HAMILTON: THE MUSICAL
I’mwillingtowaitforit...
Life doesn’t discriminate
Between the sinners and the saints It takes and it takes and it takes And we keep living anyway
We rise and we fall and we break And we make our mistakes
And if there’s a reason I’m still alive When so many have died
Then I’m willin’ to—
Wait for it
Lin-Manuel Miranda
These lyrics are from the song Wait For It, from Hamilton: The Musical, the stage musical written by Lin-Manuel Miranda. They are spoken by Aaron Burr, the third Vice President of the United States, who killed Alexander Hamilton, the former Secretary of the Treasury, in a duel in 1804, after a long rivalry between the two men. Burr is a deeply flawed character, but he sings of hope. Even if we don’t manage to lead the good life that Seneca describes in the previous passage, “Life doesn’t discriminate between the sinners and the saints”, and we have to keep living anyway. Nor is there is any reason to rush towards our future.
You can find more to read from Lin-Manuel Miranda on page 138.
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