ABSTRACT
This chapter argues the fact that people are beings of action who make decisions and choices should not make them forget that they are also pathetic animals, those to whom things happen, rather than being able to control things. All actions aim at an event that cannot be described and understood as an action, i.e. making the action pass for a pure event. Any attempt to govern life by eliminating happenstance, emphasizing aspects of action over passivity, would lead to the dismissing certain activities and human dimensions that are particularly vulnerable to changes and shifts. A life planned out to exclude risk can deteriorate seriously. Human excellence is inseparable from vulnerability, the gratitude people cannot demand from others and society that is beyond their control; it assumes a type of rationality that is not identified with domination, but with openness, receptiveness and astonishment. This is why people have always managed to compensate for an excess of security as well.
