5 nature.18 This recognition, in turn, entailed a spirit of human solidarity and development of an awareness of the duty of humanity with respect to victims (of violence and misfortune).19 We express this duty today in the obligation to make due reparations to victims (cf. infra). 18. There are different degrees of human suffering, while there are no uniform criteria for its measurement. Each individual is an unfathomable universe in him or herself. There are types of suffering that tend to diminish over time, and some trust the anesthetic effect of the passage of time. There are those who deem that forgetting is a defense against the harsh reality of the facts, as in Thomas Becket’s premonition at Canterbury, in face of his imminent suffering: "You shall forget these things, toiling in the household, You shall remember them, droning by the fire, When age and forgetfulness sweeten memory Only like a dream that has often been told And often been changed in the telling. They will seem unreal. Human kind cannot bear very much reality."20 19. Ultimately, between the constant intrusion of “tomorrow” in one’s every day life, and the fleeting escapism of “yesterday,” “Life's but a walking shadow..." (as the Shakespearean soliloquy in Macbeth regrets).21 Yet how can we deny that there is also suffering that leaves open emotional scars that are indelible and incurable, and that even resist erosion by time? Suffering is the immediate revelation not only of the universal condition of human beings, but also of one’s own awareness.22 20. In point of fact, I cannot see how one could argue that reparations to victims of human rights violations are able to end their suffering. The victims of tragedy are acutely aware, more than anyone else, of the irreparable nature of the loss or damage. As Cornélie, P. Corneille’s character in La Mort de Pompée, stated so precisely,23 "La perte que j'ai faite est trop irréparable; La source de ma haine est trop inépuisable; À l'égal de mes jours je la ferai durer; Je veux vivre avec elle, avec elle expirer."24 18 19 . . Ibid., pp. 118, 120 and 122. Ibid., p. 177. 20 . T.S. Eliot, "Murder in the Cathedral" (1935), in The Complete Poems and Plays 1909-1950, N.Y./London, Harcourt Brace & Co., 1980 [reprint], pp. 208-209. 21 . Shakespeare, Macbeth (1605-1606); act V, scene V, verse 24. 22 . M. de Unamuno, The Tragic Sense of Life, London, Collins/Fontana Libr., 1962 [reprint], pp. 209 and 204. 23 . Referring to the death of the husband and its consequences. 24 . From 1643-1644; verses 1721-1724.