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9c425e3 Life is a process of self-sustaining and self-generated action. If an organism fails in that action, it dies...It is only the concept of 'Life' that makes the concept of 'Value' possible. It is only to a living entity that things can be good or evil. evil good john-galt life man mind morality morals objectivism philosophy pursuit-of-happiness reason think thinking values virtue Ayn Rand
4c555ad Are you seeking to know what is wrong with the world? All the disasters that have wrecked your world, came from your leaders' attempt to evade the fact that A is A. All the secret evil you dread to face within you and all the pain you have ever endured, came from your own attempt to evade the fact that A is A. evil good john-galt life man mind morality morals objectivism philosophy pursuit-of-happiness rational reason think thinking truth values virtue wisdom Ayn Rand
b31c32f She wants to have her notebooks so that the flimsy framework of events, as she has constructed them in her school notebook, will be provided with walls and become a house she can live in. Because if the tottering structure of her memories collapses like a clumsily pitched tent, all that Tamina will be left with is the present, that invisible point, that nothingness moving slowly toward death. czech existentialism meaning-of-life memory novel philosophy Milan Kundera
fba57b0 Maybe man is nothing in particular,' Cross said gropingly. 'Maybe that's the terror of it. Man may be just anything at all. And maybe man deep down suspects this, really knows this, kind of dreams that it is true; but at the same time he does not want really to know it? May not human life on this earth be a kind of frozen fear of man at what he could possibly be? And every move he makes might not these moves be just to hide this awful fact? To twist it into something which he feels would make him rest and breathe a little easier? What man is is perhaps too much to be borne by man... human-nature man philosophy Richard Wright
e8d3e20 y`tbr tftysh lmwTnyn wmrqbthm mn lnshTt ljtm`y@ l'ssy@ wldy'm@ fy lbldn lshyw`y@. faliky ynl rsm HqWh fy qm@ m`rD 'w mwTnun `l~ t'shyr@ lqD `Tlth `l~ lshTy', 'w lky ttm lmwfq@ `l~ nDmm l`b kr@ l~ lfryq lwTny, yjb 'n tjtm` 'Slan kl 'nw` ltqryr wlshhdt lty tkhShm, (shhd@ lnTwr wzml l`ml wlshrT@ wkhly@ mwZWfwn m`dWwn lhdhh lmhm@. 'm m yql fy hdhh ltSryH fl `lq@ lh lbt@ bmwhb@ lmwTn fy lrsm 'w fy l`b lkr@, wl `lq@ lh bm dh knt tsmH lh Hlth lSHy@ bqD `Tl@ `l~ lshTy'. hnk 'mr wHd yhm whw m ysmW~ <> ('y mdh yqwl lmwTn, bmdh yfkr, kyf ytSrf, hl yshrk fy ljtm`t 'w fy ltZhrt fy l'wl mn yr). wbm 'n kl shy (lHy@ lywmy@ wltrqy@ wl`Tlt) mrtbT blTryq@ lty yqyWmwn fyh slwk lmwTn, fn ljmy` mDTrwn dhan, (mn 'jl ll`b m` lfryq lwTny 'w lltmkn mn qm@ m`rD, 'w lqD `Tl@ `l~ shTy' lbHr) lltSrf bTryq@ tj`l `lmthm Hsn@. friedrich-nietzche friedrich-nietzsche love milan-kundera neitzsche novel philosophy philosophy-of-life political psychological psychology religion religion-and-philoshophy sex sociology اجتماع جنس حب علم-نفس فلسفة فلسفة-حياة كائن-لا-تحتمل-خفته ميلان-كونديرا نيتشه ميلان كونديرا
9a8d877 j fy bdy@ sfr ltkwyn 'n llh khlq lnsn wj`lh ytslT `l~ lTywr wl'smk wlmshy@. bTby`@ lHl, lHq fy sfk dm 'yWlin 'w bqr@ hw lshy lwHyd ldhy tfqt `lyh lnsny@ jm` btakhin Ht~ khll lHrwb l'kthr dmwy@. qd ybdw ln hdh lHq bdyhyan l'nn n`tbr 'nfsn fy qm@ lslm. wlkn ykfy 'n ytdkhl shkhS shkhS thlth fy ll`b@, zy'r atin mthlan mn kwkb akhr wqd 'mrh llh: <>, ftSbH `ndy'dh bdh@ ltkwyn mwD` shk fy lHl friedrich-nietzche friedrich-nietzsche love milan-kundera neitzsche novel philosophy philosophy-of-life political psychological psychology religion religion-and-philoshophy sex sociology اجتماع جنس حب علم-نفس فلسفة فلسفة-حياة كائن-لا-تحتمل-خفته ميلان-كونديرا نيتشه ميلان كونديرا
aeb3e0c l 'Hd y`rf dhlk bSwr@ 'fDl mm y`rf lsysywn. fm 'n yrw al@ tSwyr `l~ mqrb@ mnhm Ht~ yhbuWw rkDyn thr 'wl Tfl ySdfwnh fyHmlwnh fy 'dhr`thm wyqblwnh fy khdh. <> hw lmthl l'`l~ lkl lsysyyn wlkl lHrkt lsysy@. friedrich-nietzche friedrich-nietzsche love milan-kundera neitzsche novel philosophy philosophy-of-life political psychological psychology religion religion-and-philoshophy sex sociology اجتماع جنس حب علم-نفس فلسفة فلسفة-حياة كائن-لا-تحتمل-خفته ميلان-كونديرا نيتشه ميلان كونديرا
385943b lqh btyryz kn HSyl@ Sdf st b`yd@ lHtml. lkn, khlfan ldhlk 'fl tqs 'hmy@ Hdth, wkthr@ m`nyh brtbTh b'kbr `dd mmkn mn lSdf? wHdh lSdf@ ymkn 'n tkwn dht mGz~. fm yHdth blDrwr@, m hw mtwq` wytkrr ywmyan ybq~ shyy'an 'bkm. wHdh lSdf@ nTq@. ns`~ l'n nqr' fyh km yqr' lGjrywn fy lrswm lty ykhTh thfl lqhw@ fy mqr lfnjn. friedrich-nietzche friedrich-nietzsche love milan-kundera neitzsche novel philosophy philosophy-of-life political psychological psychology religion religion-and-philoshophy sex sociology اجتماع جنس حب علم-نفس فلسفة فلسفة-حياة كائن-لا-تحتمل-خفته ميلان-كونديرا نيتشه ميلان كونديرا
5837ee9 "God is triune, and all reality is structured in terms of Him. A brief definition of the Trinity might be this: One God without division in a plurality of Persons, and three Persons without confusion in a unity of essence. philosophy the-one-and-the-many trinity David Chilton
9171d1e Setting fire to the roofs, getting away with the loot, suiting herself. She studied modern philosophy, read Sartre on the side, smoked Gitanes, and cultivated a look of bored contempt. But inwardly, she was seething with unfocused excitement, and looking for someone to worship. philosophy rebel rebelliousness sartre worship Margaret Atwood
bea78d3 Without language, they have no lies. Thus they have no future. lying philosophy thought-provoking truth Ursula K. Le Guin
8c61255 As for Doing-good, that is one of the professions which are full. Moreover, I have tried it fairly, and, strange as it may seem, am satisfied that it does not agree with my constitution. Probably I should not consciously and deliberately forsake my particular calling to do the good which society demands of me, to save the universe from annihilation; and I believe that a like but infinitely greater steadfastness elsewhere is all that now preserves it. philosophy Henry David Thoreau
eb0add4 I am the man who loves his life. I am the man who does not sacrifice his love or his values. john-galt philosophy Ayn Rand
d4aa10e Rationality is the recognition of the fact that existence exists, that nothing can alter the truth and nothing can take precedence over that act of perceiving it, which is thinking--that the mind is one's only judge of values and one's only guide of action--that reason is an absolute that permits no compromise--that a concession to the irrational invalidates one's consciousness and turns it from the task of perceiving to the task of faking reality--that the alleged short-cut to knowledge, which is faith, is only a short-circuit destroying the mind--that the acceptance of a mystical invention is a wish for the annihilation of existence and, properly, annihilates one's consciousness. evil good happiness john-galt life man mind morality morals objectivism pain philosophy pursuit-of-happiness rational reason think thinking truth values virtue wisdom Ayn Rand
c56297b Sublime natures are seldom clean! decreation philosophy Longinus
897bf6f What determines each person's state of happiness or unhappiness is not the event itself, but what the event means to that person. inspiration life philosophy zen zen-and-the-art-of-happiness Chris Prentiss
778544c Our problem isn't that we're individualists. It's that our individualism is static rather than dynamic. We value what we think rather than what we do. We forget that we haven't done, or been, what we thought; that the first function of life is action, just as the first property of things is motion. dynamic identity individualism motion philosophy self static Fernando Pessoa
5014ddc Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) in his said that the following five attributes marked Rome at its end: first, a mounting love of show and luxury (that is, affluence); second, a widening gap between the very rich and the very poor (this could be among countries in the family of nations as well as in a single nation); third, an obsession with sex; fourth, freakishness in the arts, masquerading as originality, and enthusiasms pretending to be creativity; fifth, an increased desire to live off the state. It all sounds so familiar. We have come a long road since our first chapter, and we are back in Rome. culture-critique faith philosophy Francis A. Schaeffer
75fb03b How can you possibly hope to reform her after the life she's been leading?' 'It's not her I'm wanting to reform - it's me,' he replied. 'Besides, it's taking me into a world where I can do some good.' 'I can't imagine you happy.' 'That's not the point.' 'Of course it isn't. But if she has a heart, she can't be happy either. She can't want you to do that.' 'No, she doesn't.' 'I see. But life...' 'What about life?' 'Life demands something different.' 'Life only wants us to do the right things,' said Nekhlyudov. -Resurrection love philosophy resurrection Leo Tolstoy
50c2cc0 [T]he concern of man is not his future but his present, not the world but his soul. We must be just, we must strive, we must engage ourselves with the business of the world for our own sake, because through that, and through contemplation in equal measure, our soul is purified and brought closer to the divine. ... Thought and deed conjoined are crucial. ... The attempt must be made; the outcome is irrelevant. Right action is a pale material reflection of the divine, but reflection it is, nonetheless. Define your goal and exert reason to accomplish it by virtuous action; successs or failure is secondary. deeds divinity failure future goals mankind philosophy present purification souls success thought Iain Pears
99e1717 "Electrons, when they were first discovered, behaved exactly like particles or bullets, very simply. Further research showed, from electron diffraction experiments for example, that they behaved like waves. As time went on there was a growing confusion about how these things really behaved ---- waves or particles, particles or waves? Everything looked like both. This growing confusion was resolved in 1925 or 1926 with the advent of the correct equations for quantum mechanics. Now we know how the electrons and light behave. But what can I call it? If I say they behave like particles I give the wrong impression; also if I say they behave like waves. They behave in their own inimitable way, which technically could be called a quantum mechanical way. They behave in a way that is like nothing that you have seen before. Your experience with things that you have seen before is incomplete. The behavior of things on a very tiny scale is simply different. An atom does not behave like a weight hanging on a spring and oscillating. Nor does it behave like a miniature representation of the solar system with little planets going around in orbits. Nor does it appear to be somewhat like a cloud or fog of some sort surrounding the nucleus. It behaves like nothing you have seen before. There is one simplication at least. Electrons behave in this respect in exactly the same way as photons; they are both screwy, but in exactly in the same way.... The difficulty really is psychological and exists in the perpetual torment that results from your saying to yourself, "But how can it be like that?" which is a reflection of uncontrolled but utterly vain desire to see it in terms of something familiar. I will not describe it in terms of an analogy with something familiar; I will simply describe it. There was a time when the newspapers said that only twelve men understood the theory of relativity. I do not believe there ever was such a time. There might have been a time when only one man did, because he was the only guy who caught on, before he wrote his paper. But after people read the paper a lot of people understood the theory of relativity in some way or other, certainly more than twelve. On the other hand, I think I can safely say that nobody understands quantum mechanics. So do not take the lecture too seriously, feeling that you really have to understand in terms of some model what I am going to describe, but just relax and enjoy it. I am going to tell you what nature behaves like. If you will simply admit that maybe she does behave like this, you will find her a delightful, entrancing thing. Do not keep saying to yourself, if you can possible avoid it, "But how can it be like that?" because you will get 'down the drain', into a blind alley from which nobody has escaped. Nobody knows how it can be like that." philosophy physics quantum-mechanics science Richard P. Feynman
b1c1ec4 Though why should we expect age to mellow us? If it isn't life's business to reward merit, why should it be life's business to give us warm, comfortable feelings towards its end? What possible evolutionary purpose could nostalgia serve? history mellow memory merit nostalgia personality philosophy time Julian Barnes
7312d88 For millennia philosophers and saints have tried to reason out a logical scheme for the universe... until Hilda came along and demonstrated that the universe is not logical but whimsical, its structure depending solely on the dreams and nightmares of non-logical dreamers. philosophy whimsy Robert A. Heinlein
9e3f23a But in doing so---moving forward...---he's still dealing with the past. It's always strung out behind us, innit, attached to our arses like a roll of toilet paper we trail out of the bathroom, pointing the way to the giant shite we just took. It doesn't matter if we flushed it down; Everyone still knows what we did there. So its fine to say it's all done and you have no connection with the past, that you're a new person every second, but silly in my view to pretend that person isn't made of the old one. humor past philosophy Kevin Hearne
b135fb6 There are no trivial facts in humanity, nor little leaves in vegetation. philosophy Victor Hugo
dd8b2b1 The sense impressions of one-celled animals are not edited for the brain: 'This is philosophically interesting in a rather mournful way, since it means that only the simplest animals perceive the universe as it is (21). nature philosophy sight world Annie Dillard
21606da She had lost herself in this old work, her personality dissolving into it, so that she had been set free. The immortality of the soul lies in its dissolution; this was the cryptic comment that so frustrated Olivier and which Julien had only ever grasped as evidence for the history of a particular school of thought. He had known all about its history, but Julia knew what it meant. He found the realization strangely reassuring. freedom immortality liberation meaning philosophy self-abandonment soul thought Iain Pears
7235232 Let those who want to save the world if you can get to see it clear and as a whole. Then any part you make will represent the whole if it's made truly. The thing to do is work and learn to make it. life literature philosophy writing Ernest Hemingway
9f74441 "I shall not be alive a half decade hence," said Seldon, "and yet it is of overpowering concern to me. Call it idealism. Call it an identification of myself with that mystical generalization to which we refer by the term, 'man." philosophy Isaac Asimov
fcf614f If you can't test it, it's not theorics -- it's metatheorics. A branch of philosophy. So, if you want to think of it this way, our test equipment is what defines the boundary separating theorics from philosophy. philosophy religion science Neal Stephenson
e9c5809 The more you engage in any type of emotion or behavior, the greater your desire for it will become. chris-prentiss depression emotions happiness philosophy zen zen-and-the-art-of-happiness Chris Prentiss
a5c4d21 Things that seem morally obvious and intuitive now weren't necessarily so in the past; many started with nonconforming reasoning. ethics morality philosophy veganism Robert M. Sapolsky
c8ac054 I love even to see the domestic animals reassert their native rights -- any evidence that they have not wholly lost their original wild habits and vigor; as when my neighbor's cow breaks out of her pasture early in the Spring and boldly swims the river, a cold grey tide, twenty-five or thirty rods wide, swollen by the melted snow. It is the Buffalo crossing the Mississippi. nature philosophy Henry David Thoreau
3114d80 Whenever you see flies or insects in a still life--a wilted petal, a black spot on the apple--the painter is giving you a secret message. He's telling you that living things don't last--it's all temporary. Death in life. That's why they're called natures mortes. Maybe you don't see it at first, with all the beauty and bloom, the little speck of rot. But if you look closer--there it is. death life philosophy transience Donna Tartt
d9ec681 When a man gets drunk he gets sentimental. That's what I wanted to avoid. freedom french-literature jean-paul-sartre philosophy the-age-of-reason the-roads-to-freedom Jean-Paul Sartre
8e8ed8f And yet does the appetite for new days ever really cease? identity life-philosophy philosophy science John Updike
8e88d89 "Is it not curious, that so vast a being as the whale should see the world through so small an eye, and hear the thunder through an ear which is smaller than a hare's? But if his eyes were broad as the lens of Herschel's great telescope; and his ears capacious as the porches of cathedrals; would that make him any longer of sight, or sharper of hearing? Not at all.--Why then do you try to "enlarge" your mind? Subtilize it" friedrich-wilhelm-herschel philosophy wilhelm-herschel william-herschel Herman Melville
0e997f6 Civilizations... cannot flourish if they are beset with troublesome infections of beliefs. bullshit civilization philosophy Harry G. Frankfurt
7941611 The goal and meaning of individual life (which is the only real life) no longer lie in individual development but in the policy of the State, which is thrust upon the individual from outside and consists in the execution of an abstract idea which ultimately tends to attract all life to itself. mental-health philosophy politics psychology state system the-self truth welfare C.G. Jung
fa6be0e lkhyn@. mndh Tfwltn wlwld wm`lm lmdrs@ ykrrn `l~ msm`n b'nh 'fZ` shy fy lwjwd. friedrich-nietzche friedrich-nietzsche love milan-kundera neitzsche novel philosophy philosophy-of-life political psychological psychology religion religion-and-philoshophy sex sociology اجتماع جنس حب علم-نفس فلسفة فلسفة-حياة كائن-لا-تحتمل-خفته ميلان-كونديرا نيتشه ميلان كونديرا
6056bb3 fy mmlk@ <> ltwtlytry@ t`T~ ljbt msbqan mHriWm@ bdhlk 'y sw'l jdyd. yntj `n dhlk 'n lnsn ldhy ytsl hw l`dw lHqyqy l <>. lsw'l hw mthl mskyn ymzq lqmsh@ lmrswm@ lldykwr fySbH fy lmstT` rw'y@ m ykhtby' khlfh. hkdh shrHt sbyn ltyryz m`n~ lwHth: mn l'mm lkdhb lSrkh, wmn lkhlf lHqyq@ lty l yudrk knhh. l 'n hw'l ldhyn ynDlwn Dd l'nZm@ lmsmW@ twtlytry@ qlaWm ymknhm lnDl mn khll 'sy'l@ wshkwk. fhum 'yDan bHj@ l~ qn`thm wl~ Hqyqthm lbsyT@ lty yftrD 'n yfhmh 'kbr `dd mmkn mn lns w'n tHdth frzan dm`yan jm`yan. friedrich-nietzche friedrich-nietzsche love milan-kundera neitzsche novel philosophy philosophy-of-life political psychological psychology religion religion-and-philoshophy sex sociology اجتماع جنس حب علم-نفس فلسفة فلسفة-حياة كائن-لا-تحتمل-خفته ميلان-كونديرا نيتشه ميلان كونديرا
75b61fe `dt tyryz l~ lnwm mn jdyd. wlknh hw lm ystT` lnwm. kn ytkhylh myt@ wtr~ 'Hlman rhyb@. wlm ykn fy stT`th yqZh l'nh myt@. n`m, hdh hw lmwt: 'n tnm tyryz wtr~ 'Hlman fZy`@ dwn 'n ytmkn mn yqZh. friedrich-nietzche friedrich-nietzsche love milan-kundera neitzsche novel philosophy philosophy-of-life political psychological psychology religion religion-and-philoshophy sex sociology اجتماع جنس حب علم-نفس فلسفة فلسفة-حياة كائن-لا-تحتمل-خفته ميلان-كونديرا نيتشه ميلان كونديرا
9258267 It occurred to him that his scarcely perceptible attempts to struggle against what was considered good by the most highly placed people, those scarcely noticeable impulses which he had immediately suppressed, might have been the real thing, and all the rest false. human-nature inspiration life morality philosophy psychology societal-expectations society Leo Tolstoy
9b57c5f w'n hnk 'yDan w'yDan kwkb 'khr~ Hyth ymkn lljns lbshry 'n yld mn jdyd mrtqyan fy kl mr@ drj@an ('y Hy@) `l~ sulaWm lkml. tlk hy lfkr@ lty ykwWnh twms `n l`awd l'bdy. nHn 'yDan skn hdhh l'rD ('y lkwkb rqm wHd, kwkb n`dm lkhbr@), lys fy mknn Tb`an l 'n nkwWn fkr@ GmD@ jdan `m sySyr bHl lnsn fy lkwkb l'khr~. tur~ hl sykwn 'kthr thqlan? hl sykwn lkml fy mtnwl ydh? whl sytmkn mn lwSwl lyh bwsT@ ltkrr? Dmn 'fq hdhh lywTwby wHdh, ymkn lmfhwmy ltshw'm wltfw'l 'n ykwn lhm m`n~: flmtfy'l hw dhlk ldhy ytSwr 'n ltrykh lnsny sykwn 'ql dymwm@ `l~ lkwkb rqm 5. wlmtshy'm hw dhlk ldhy l ySdWq hdh l'mr. friedrich-nietzche friedrich-nietzsche love milan-kundera neitzsche novel philosophy philosophy-of-life political psychological psychology religion religion-and-philoshophy sex sociology اجتماع جنس حب علم-نفس فلسفة فلسفة-حياة كائن-لا-تحتمل-خفته ميلان-كونديرا نيتشه ميلان كونديرا
946e723 If you are surrounded by people who not only don't believe in your goals and your positive outlook on life, but who also continually try to tear you down, it will be extremely challenging for you to hold firmly in mind that you will succeed and that you can be happy. life philosophy zen zen-and-the-art-of-happiness Chris Prentiss
33b657a By heavens! there is something after all in the world allowing one man to steal a horse while another must not look at a halter. Steal a horse straight out. Very well. He has done it. Perhaps he can ride. But there is a way of looking at a halter that would provoke the most charitable of saints into a kick. humanity philosophy social-norms Joseph Conrad
9efe7a0 We live in a stocking which is in the process of being turned inside out, without our ever knowing for sure to what phase of the process our moment of consciousness corresponds. philosophy stockings Vladimir Nabokov
b2db060 The stupidity of people comes from having an answer for everything. The wisdom of the novel comes from having a question for everything. czech-literature foolishness literature novel philosophy questions stupidity Milan Kundera
21e36a0 When everything is social, suddenly nothing is. philosophy social-media Jean Baudrillard
d8290ac Primenenie protivozachatochnykh sredstv inogda kritikuiut kak <>. Da, eto tak -- ochen' protivoestestvennoe. Beda v tom, chto protivoestestvenno i vseobshchee blagosostoianie. Ia dumaiu, chto bol'shinstvo iz nas schitaet vseobshchee blagosostoianie v vysshei stepeni zhelatel'nym. Nevozmozhno, odnako, dobit'sia protivoestestvennogo vseobshchego blagosostoianiia, esli ne poiti pri etom takzhe na protivoestestvennuiu reguliatsiiu rozhdaemosti, tak kak eto privedet k eshche bol'shim nevzgodam, chem sushchestvuiushchie v prirode. medicine philosophy Richard Dawkins
e1283f6 One believed what one was told to believe, what it made sense to believe. Unless one was a foreigner, of course, or a philosopher. cognitive-dissonance confirmation-bias foreigners philosophy Iain M. Banks
fb037ff "I would bear it for her if I could. pain philosophy wasted-time wishing Penelope Fitzgerald
f7bffa4 "You certainly remember this scene from dozens of films: a boy and a girl are running hand in hand in a beautiful spring (or summer) landscape. Running, running, running and laughing. By laughing the two runners are proclaiming to the whole world, to audiences in all the movie theaters: "We're happy, we're glad to be in the world, we're in agreement with being!" It's a silly scene, a cliche, but it expresses a basic human attitude: serious laughter, laughter "beyond joking." All churches, all underwear manufacturers, all generals, all political parties, are in agreement about that kind of laughter, and all of them rush to put the image of the two laughing runners on the billboards advertising their religion, their products, their ideology, their nation, their sex, their dishwashing powder." -- czech existentialism happiness kitsch laughter meaning-of-life novel philosophy Milan Kundera
c733ada "Again, all of life presents us with two basic ways to treat events. We can either label them "god for us" or "bad for us." The event is only an event. It's how we treat the event that determines what it becomes in our lives. The event doesn't make that determination- we do." depression happiness life philosophy zen zen-and-the-art-of-happiness Chris Prentiss
06c2c2a My greatest urge in life is to do nothing. It's not even an absence of motivation, a lack, for I do have a strong urge: to do nothing. To down tools, to stop. Except I know that if I do that I will fall into despair, and I know that it is worth doing anything in one's power to avoid depression because from there, from being depressed, it is only an imperceptible step to despair: the last refuge of the ego. depression despair idleness motivation philosophy Geoff Dyer
835a080 As you know, shibumi has to do with great refinement underlying commonplace appearances. It is a statement so correct that it does not have to be bold, so poignant it does not have to be pretty, so true it does not have to be real. Shibumi is understanding, rather than knowledge. Eloquent silence. In demeanor, it is modesty without pudency. In art, where the spirit of shibumi takes the form of sabi, it is elegant simplicity, articulate brevity. In philosophy, where shibumi emerges as wabi, it is spiritual tranquility that is not passive; it is being without the angst of becoming. philosophy shibumi understatement Trevanian
d22efad I never said a word against eminent men of science. What I complain of is a vague popular philosophy which supposes itself to be scientific when it it really nothing but a sort of new religion and an uncommonly nasty one. philosophy science G.K. Chesterton
6f6ac42 Terrible times breed terrible things, my lord. environment greed nurture philosophical philosophy rulers war George R.R. Martin
8641e47 You know, it's really very peculiar. To be mortal is the most basic human experience, and yet man has never been able to accept it, grasp it, and behave accordingly. Man doesn't know how to be mortal. And when he dies, he doesn't even know how to be dead. dying immortality life living mortality philosophy Milan Kundera
0e88053 The New Your energy goes beyond anything you'll find anywhere else. It's too much for some people and it grinds them down, but it lifts up and animates the rest of us. human-nature individuality inspiration knowledge-of-self life living-in-a-city philosophy sadness security Lawrence Block
d51c825 Death is the promise we're all born with, sir. A good death is better than a poor one. philosophy michael moorcock
157c737 It may be laid down as a general rule that if a man begins to sing, no one will take notice of this except his fellow human being. This is true even if his song is surpassingly beautiful. Other men may be in raptures at this skill, but the rest of creation is, by and large, unmoved. intellectual philosophy Susanna Clarke
72376e1 What is the meaning of life? What is our purpose on earth? These are some of the great, false questions of religion. We need not answer them, for they are badly posed, but we can live our answers all the same. At a minimum, we can create the conditions for human flourishing in this life--the only life of which any of us can be certain. That means we should not terrify our children with thoughts of hell or poison them with hatred for infidels. We should not teach our sons to consider women their future property or convince our daughters that they are property even now. And we must decline to tell our children that human history began with bloody magic and will end with bloody magic in a glorious war between the righteous and the rest. philosophy religion Sam Harris
0894b6b My existence began to worry me seriously. Was I not a simple spectre? jean-paul-sartre nausea philosophy Jean-Paul Sartre
8e3dca1 Mma Ramotswe had listened to a World Service broadcast on her radio one day which had simply taken her breath away. It was about philosophers who called themselves existentialists and who, as far as Mma Ramotswe could ascertain, lived in France. These French people said that you should just live in a way which made you feel real, and that the real thing to do was the right thing too. Mma Ramotswe had listened in astonishment. You did not have to go to France to meet existentialists, she reflected; there were many existentialists right here in Botswana. Note Mokoti, for example. She had been married to an existentialist herself, without even knowing it. Note, that selfish man who never once put himself out for another--not even for his wife--would have approved of existentialists, and they of him. It was very existentialist, perhaps, to go out to bars every night while your pregnant wife stayed at home, and even more existentialist to go off with girls--young existentialist girls--you met in bars. It was a good life being an existentialist, although not too good for all the other, nonexistentialist people around one. morality philosophy Alexander McCall Smith
36e0ef4 "Olivier took a deep breath, then turned and bowed in farewell. Gersonides nodded in return, then thought of something. "The manuscript you brought me, by that bishop. It argues that understanding is more important than movement. That action is virtuous only if it reflects pure comprehension, and that virtue comes from the comprehension, not the action." Olivier frowned. "So?" "Dear boy, I must tell you a secret." "What?" "I do believe it is wrong." comprehension philosophy right understanding virtue wrong Iain Pears
77be607 Is beauty enhanced or adulterated by utility? philosophy Sena Jeter Naslund
777c837 The present importance of the Book of Job cannot be expressed adequately even by saying that it is the most interesting of ancient books. We may almost say of the Book of Job that it is the most interesting of modern books. In truth, of course, neither of the two phrases covers the matter, because fundamental human religion and fundamental human irreligion are both at once old and new; philosophy is either eternal or it is not philosophy. The modern habit of saying, 'This is my opinion, but I may be wrong,' is entirely irrational. If I say that it may be wrong I say that is not my opinion. The modern habit of saying 'Every man has a different philosophy; this is my philosophy and its suits me'; the habit of saying this is mere weak-mindedness. A cosmic philosophy is not constructed to fit a man; a cosmic philosophy is constructed to fit a cosmos. A man can no more possess a private religion than he can possess a private sun and moon. philosophy religion truth worldview G.K. Chesterton
369d051 The modern mind is merely a blank about the philosophy of toleration; and the average agnostic of recent times has really had no notion of what he meant by religious liberty and equality. He took his own ethics as self-evident and enforced them; such as decency or the error of the Adamite heresy. Then he was horribly shocked if he heard of anybody else, Moslem or Christian, taking his ethics as self-evident and enforcing them; such as reverence or the error of the Atheist heresy. And then he wound up by taking all this lop-sided illogical deadlock, of the unconscious meeting the unfamiliar, and called it the liberality of his own mind. Medieval men thought that if a social system was founded on a certain idea it must fight for that idea, whether it was as simple as Islam or as carefully balanced as Catholicism. Modern men really think the same thing, as is clear when communists attack their ideas of property. Only they do not think it so clearly, because they have not really thought out their idea of property. medieval morality philosophy religion st-francis toleration G.K. Chesterton
3d18a47 tjwzt md@ ltmthyly@ lmrtjl@ lHdwd. kn frnz yjd 'n hdhh lmlh@ (lty kn yqrW b'nh sHr@ `l~ kl Hl) qd Tlt 'kthr mn llzm. f'msk lqb`@ lrjly@ byn 'Sb`yh wntz`h `n r's sbyn whw ybtsm, thm `lqh fwq lq`d@. . kn l'mr kmn ymHw shrbyn rsmhm wld `fryt `l~ Swr@ mrym l`dhr. friedrich-nietzche friedrich-nietzsche love milan-kundera neitzsche novel philosophy philosophy-of-life political psychological psychology religion religion-and-philoshophy sex sociology اجتماع جنس حب علم-نفس فلسفة فلسفة-حياة كائن-لا-تحتمل-خفته ميلان-كونديرا نيتشه ميلان كونديرا
9c518c6 mdh bqy mn mHtDry kmbwdy? Swr@ kbyr@ llnjm@ l'myrky@ tHml byn dhr`yh Tflan 'Sfr. mdh bqy mn twms? ktb@u: 'rd mmlk@ llh `l~ l'rD. mdh bqy mn bythwvn? rjl mqTb lwjh, msh`th lsh`r kmjnwn wynTq bSwt mkty'b <> <>. mdh bqy mn frnz? ktb@u: b`d Twl Dll, l`wd@. whkdh dwlyk, whkdh dwlyk. qbl 'n nunsa~ ntHwl l~ <>. <> hw mHT@ tSl byn lky'n wlnsyn. friedrich-nietzche friedrich-nietzsche love milan-kundera neitzsche novel philosophy philosophy-of-life political psychological psychology religion religion-and-philoshophy sex sociology اجتماع جنس حب علم-نفس فلسفة فلسفة-حياة كائن-لا-تحتمل-خفته ميلان-كونديرا نيتشه ميلان كونديرا
8660966 knt tkhf mn 'n yuGlq `lyh dkhl n`sh w'n tudlaW~ fy 'rD 'myrk. ldhlk ktbt wSy@ shtrTt fyh 'n tuHrq jthth b`d mwth, w'n yunthr rmdh fy lhw. tyryz wtwms mt tHt sh`r lthql. 'm hy f'rdt 'n tmwt tHt sh`r lkhf@. swf tSyr 'khf mn lhw. wHsb r'y brmynyd, fn mwth tHwWl mn lslby l~ lyjby. friedrich-nietzche friedrich-nietzsche love milan-kundera neitzsche novel philosophy philosophy-of-life political psychological psychology religion religion-and-philoshophy sex sociology اجتماع جنس حب علم-نفس فلسفة فلسفة-حياة كائن-لا-تحتمل-خفته ميلان-كونديرا نيتشه ميلان كونديرا
6f2244a `ndm kn symwn yfkr fy dhlk llq kn ysh`r blkhjl mn wahalh. mn lmw'kd 'nh lm yu`jb 'bh. 'm hw f'u`jb b'byh. kn ytdhkr kl klm@ tfwWh bh mstSwban mwqfh 'kthr f'kthr. hnk jml@ `l~ l'khS `lqt bdhkrth: <>. w`ndm wD` `mW Sdyqth ktb ltwr@ byn ydyh, t'thr bklmt ysw` lty tqwl: <>. kn y`rf 'n 'bh mlHd wlkn ltshbh byn ljmltyn kn blnsb@ lh wk'nh rmz khfy y`ny 'n 'bh ystHsn lTryq lty khtrh. friedrich-nietzche friedrich-nietzsche love milan-kundera neitzsche novel philosophy philosophy-of-life political psychological psychology religion religion-and-philoshophy sex sociology اجتماع جنس حب علم-نفس فلسفة فلسفة-حياة كائن-لا-تحتمل-خفته ميلان-كونديرا نيتشه ميلان كونديرا
d660ea1 Mendel had a remarkable nature as a boy. I'm not talking about miracles. Miracles are a burden for a tzaddik, not the proof of one. Miracles prove nothing except to those whose faith is bought very cheap, sir. There was something in Mendele. There was a fire. philosophy Michael Chabon
30ff25a The solutions all are simple--after you have arrived at them. But they're simple only when you know already what they are. philosophy Robert M. Pirsig
4136e82 fy mjtm` tt`ysh fyh tyrt shtW~ wHyth ymkn lt'thyr hdhh ltyrt 'n yumH~ 'w yHdW bshkl mtnwb, ybq~ fy lmstT` lflt tqryban mn mHkm <>. wymkn llfrd `ndy'dh 'n yHfZ `l~ tmyzh, wllfnn 'n ykhlq '`mlan fnyW@ mdhsh@. wlkn fy lbldn lty yst'thr fyh Hzb sysy blslT@ klh, njd 'nfsn Hlan fy mmlk@ <> ldkttwry@. dh knt 'qwl dykttwry@ fny 'qSd bdhlk 'n kl m yT`n b <> mlG~an mn lHy@: kl Zhr llfrdy@, (l'n 'y nshz hw bSf@ fy wjh l'khwW@ lbsm@) wklW shk (l'n mn ybd' blshk fy ltfSyl lSGyr@ ytwSl fy nhy@ lmTf l'n yshk fy lHy@ bHd dhth). kdhlk lskhry@ (l'n kl shy fy mmlk@ <> yw'khdh `l~ mHml ljd), w'yDan l'm lty hjrt `y'lth, 'w lrjl ldhy yfDWl lrjl `l~ lns mhddan bdhlk lsh`r lmqds <>. nTlqan mn wjh@ lnZr hdhh, fn m ysm~ b <> ymkn `tbrh thGr@ `fn@ yrmy fyh <> ltwtlytry b'wskhh. friedrich-nietzche friedrich-nietzsche love milan-kundera neitzsche novel philosophy philosophy-of-life political psychological psychology religion religion-and-philoshophy sex sociology اجتماع جنس حب علم-نفس فلسفة فلسفة-حياة كائن-لا-تحتمل-خفته ميلان-كونديرا نيتشه ميلان كونديرا
9f171ca yntj `n dhlk 'n lwfq ltm m` lky'n ytkhdh mthlh l'`l~ `lman yuntf~ mnh lbrz, wytSrf kl wHd fyh wk'n lbrz Gyr mwjwd. hdh lmthl ljmly yd`~ <>. <> hy klm@ 'lmny@ Zhrt fy 'wsT lqrn lts` `shr l`Tfy, thm ntshrt b`d dhlk fy jmy` llGt. wlkn st`mlh bkthr@ 'zl dllth lmytfyzyqy@ l'Sly@ why: klm@ kytsh fy l'ss nfy mTlq llbrz. wblm`n~ lHrfy km blm`n~ lmjzy <> tTrH jnban kl m hw Gyr mqbwl fy lwjwd lnsny. friedrich-nietzche friedrich-nietzsche love milan-kundera neitzsche novel philosophy philosophy-of-life political psychological psychology religion religion-and-philoshophy sex sociology اجتماع جنس حب علم-نفس فلسفة فلسفة-حياة كائن-لا-تحتمل-خفته ميلان-كونديرا نيتشه ميلان كونديرا
a3d021b Die Wahrheit des Seins ist Wesen hegelian-dialectic philosophy Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich
d1059ef The fact that for tens of thousands of years humanity has used warfare as a solution for states of disequilibrium has no more demonstrable value than the fact that in the same period humanity learned to resolve states of psychological imbalance by using alcohol or other equally devastating substances. philosophy war Umberto Eco
0d8a7a3 There is no perfectly shaped part of the motorcycle and never will be, but when you come as close as these instruments take you, remarkable things happen, and you go flying across the countryside under a power that would be called magic if it were not so completely rational in every way. motorcycle-maintenance motorcycles perfection philosophy rationality Robert M. Pirsig
25b3e22 We must have sinned greatly, at some juncture long buried in our protozoic past, to deserve such a universe identity life-philosophy philosophy science John Updike
0f4e270 bmkn lkwkb 'n ythw~ `l~ 'thr tfjyr lqnbl. wymkn llwTn 'n ynhbh kl ywm mkhtls jdyd, wymkn lskn lHy jmy`hm 'n yusqw l~ ktyb@ l`dm. ymknh 'n ytHml kl hdh bshwl@ 'kbr mm yjrw' `l~ lqwl, wlknh Gyr qdr `l~ tHml lHzn ldhy ysbbh Hlm wHd mn 'Hlm tyryz. friedrich-nietzche friedrich-nietzsche love milan-kundera neitzsche novel philosophy philosophy-of-life political psychological psychology religion religion-and-philoshophy sex sociology اجتماع جنس حب علم-نفس فلسفة فلسفة-حياة كائن-لا-تحتمل-خفته ميلان-كونديرا نيتشه ميلان كونديرا
9b573e9 "The color-patches of vision part, shift, and reform as I move through space in time. The present is the object of vision, and what I see before me at any given second is a full field of color patches scattered just so. The configuration will never be repeated. Living is moving; time is a live creek bearing changing lights. As I move, or as the world moves around me, the fullness of what I see shatters. "Last forever!" Who hasn't prayed that prayer? You were lucky to get it in the first place. The present is a freely given canvas. That it is constantly being ripped apart and washed downstream goes without saying; it is a canvas, nevertheless. But there is more to the present than a series of snapshots. We are not merely sensitized film; we have feelings, a memory for information and an eidetic memory for the imagery of our pasts. Our layered consciousness is a tiered track for an unmatched assortment of concentrically wound reels. Each one plays out for all of life its dazzle and blur of translucent shadow-pictures; each one hums at every moment its own secret melody in its own unique key. We tune in and out. But moments are not lost. Time out of mind is time nevertheless, cumulative, informing the present. From even the deepest slumber you wake with a jolt- older, closer to death, and wiser, grateful for breath. But time is the one thing we have been given, and we have been given to time. Time gives us a whirl. We keep waking from a dream we can't recall, looking around in surprise, and lapsing back, for years on end. All I want to do is stay awake, keep my head up, prop my eyes open, with toothpicks, with trees." beauty belief consciousness creation curiosity disbelief energy enoughness epiphany exploration exultant faith fate fearless fire free freedom gaps god grace growth hallelujah humility illumination intricacy joy joyful joyfulness life-force light living-in-the-present-moment mindfulness multiplicity mystery nature philosopher-s-stone philosophy poem poet poetry power praise prayer prayers praying religion religious-diversity science seeing seeking soul spirit stalking-the-gaps the-tree-with-the-lights-in-it tolerance walking watching wonder Annie Dillard
7879b53 I want to think about trees. Trees have a curious relationship to the subject of the present moment. There are many created things in the universe that outlive us, that outlive the sun, even, but I can't think about them. I live with trees. There are creatures under our feet, creatures that live over our heads, but trees live quite convincingly in the same filament of air we inhabit, and in addition, they extend impressively in both directions, up and down, shearing rock and fanning air, doing their real business just out of reach. beauty belief consciousness creation curiosity disbelief energy enoughness epiphany exploration exultant faith fate fearless fire free freedom gaps god grace growth hallelujah humility illumination intricacy joy joyful joyfulness life-force light living-in-the-present-moment mindfulness multiplicity mystery nature philosopher-s-stone philosophy poem poet poetry power praise prayer prayers praying religion religious-diversity science seeing seeking soul spirit stalking-the-gaps the-tree-with-the-lights-in-it tolerance trees walking watching wonder Annie Dillard
0207709 I wasn't sure about that, but one never knows. Sometimes a neighborhood, like a culture or civilization, is strong enough to absorb and acculturate any number of newcomers. But I don't know if that's true around here any longer. The outward forms and appearances look the same - [...]- but the substance has been altered. life philosophy Nelson DeMille
3c387f3 This is precisely how someone speaks who imagines that he is the world's divinely appointed ruler: 'I will not LET them starve. I will not LET the drought come. I will not LET the river flood. philosophy Daniel Quinn
f1f3c26 "In the forty minutes I watched the muskrat, he never saw me, smelled me, or heard me at all. When he was in full view of course I never moved except to breathe. My eyes would move, too, following his, but he never noticed. Only once, when he was feeding from the opposite bank about eight feet away did he suddenly rise upright, all alert- and then he immediately resumed foraging. But he never knew I was there. I never knew I was there, either. For that forty minutes last night I was as purely sensitive and mute as a photographic plate; I received impressions, but I did not print out captions. My own self-awareness had disappeared; it seems now almost as though, had I been wired to electrodes, my EEG would have been flat. I have done this sort of thing so often that I have lost self-consciousness about moving slowly and halting suddenly. And I have often noticed that even a few minutes of this self-forgetfulness is tremendously invigorating. I wonder if we do not waste most of our energy just by spending every waking minute saying hello to ourselves. Martin Buber quotes an old Hasid master who said, "When you walk across the field with your mind pure and holy, then from all the stones, and all growing things, and all animals, the sparks of their souls come out and cling to you, and then they are purified and become a holy fire in you." beauty belief consciousness creation curiosity disbelief energy enoughness epiphany exploration exultant faith fate fearless fire free freedom gaps god grace growth hallelujah humility illumination intricacy joy joyful joyfulness life-force light living-in-the-present-moment mindfulness multiplicity mystery nature philosopher-s-stone philosophy poem poet poetry power praise prayer prayers praying religion religious-diversity ring-the-bells science seeing seeking soul spirit stalking-the-gaps the-tree-with-the-lights-in-it tolerance walking watching wonder Annie Dillard
ab93ed2 When we say that this definition of good and evil is objective, what we mean is that it is as objective as we can be at this time, and to the best of our knowledge about the universe. This definition is based on what we know about how the universe works. It is not based on the revealed wisdom of any one faith or political movement. It is common to the best principles of all of them, but it is based on what we know rather than what we believe. In that sense, it is objective. Of course, what we know about the universe, and our place in it, is constantly changing as we add more information and gain new insights. We are never perfectly objective about anything, that is true, but we can be less objective, or we can be more objective. inspirational philosophy science Gregory David Roberts
e22da21 thm ql <>. sd Smt jdyd thm qT`h qy'lan: <>. friedrich-nietzche friedrich-nietzsche love milan-kundera neitzsche novel philosophy philosophy-of-life political psychological psychology religion religion-and-philoshophy sex sociology اجتماع جنس حب علم-نفس فلسفة فلسفة-حياة كائن-لا-تحتمل-خفته ميلان-كونديرا نيتشه ميلان كونديرا
8b769f1 To say that life is meaningless is to express an attitude, not to state a fact meaning moral-philosophy nihilism philosophy purpose Peter Singer
0f713ad So live. I'll be the nun for you. I am now. philosophy Annie Dillard
c733dd8 I shall never sleep again. But then--how shall I endure my own company? philosophy Jean-Paul Sartre
d68f494 Alle menschlichen Fehler sind Ungeduld, ein vorzeitiges Abbrechen des Methodischen, ein scheinbares Einpfahlen der scheinbaren Sache. life philosophy sin truth Franz Kafka
985ab32 "That's all the motorcycle is, a system of concepts worked out in steel. There's no part in it, no shape in it, that is not out of someone's mind [...] I've noticed that people who have never worked with steel have trouble seeing this--that the motorcycle is primarily a mental phenomenon. They associate metal with given shapes--pipes, rods, girders, tools, parts--all of them fixed and inviolable., and think of it as primarily physical. But a person who does machining or foundry work or forger work or welding sees "steel" as having no shape at all. Steel can be any shape you want if you are skilled enough, and any shape but the one you want if you are not. Shapes, like this tappet, are what you arrive at, what you give to the steel. Steel has no more shape than this old pile of dirt on the engine here. These shapes are all of someone's mind. That's important to see. The steel? Hell, even the steel is out of someone's mind. There's no steel in nature. Anyone from the Bronze Age could have told you that. All nature has is a potential for steel. There's nothing else there." foundry machining mechanics motorcycle-maintenance motorcycles philosophy steel welding Robert M. Pirsig
f96ea15 This 'web of discourses' as Robyn called it...is as much a biological product as any of the other constructions to be found in the animal world. (Clothes too, are part of the extended phenotype of Homo Sapiens almost every niche inhabited by that species.An illustrated encyclopedia of zoology should no more picture Homo Sapiens naked than it should picture Ursus arctus-the black bear- wearing a clown suit and riding a bicycle. dennett humor philosophy philosophy-of-mind science Daniel C. Dennett
1f9e1f5 'Dft lmSwWr btHbWb 'mwmy : <<'jsd `ry@. wlkn hdh 'mr Tby`y jdan! wkl m hw Tby`y jmyl!>>. friedrich-nietzche friedrich-nietzsche love milan-kundera neitzsche novel philosophy philosophy-of-life political psychological psychology religion religion-and-philoshophy sex sociology اجتماع جنس حب علم-نفس فلسفة فلسفة-حياة كائن-لا-تحتمل-خفته ميلان-كونديرا نيتشه ميلان كونديرا
6e8f237 "Not everyone understands what a completely rational process this is, this maintenance of a motorcycle. They think it's some kind of "knack" or some kind of "affinity for machines" in operation. They are right, but the knack is almost purely a process of reason, and most of the troubles are caused by what old time radio men called a "short between the earphones," failures to use the head properly. A motorcycle functions entirely in accordance with the laws of reason, and a study of the art of motorcycle maintenance is really a miniature study of the art of rationality itself." motorcycle motorcycle-maintenance philosophy rationality reason Robert M. Pirsig
67468f3 `ndm hd' Srkhh, nmt qrb twms w'mskt bydh Twl llyl. mndh knt fy lthmn@ why tGfw jm`@ ydyh wmtkhyl@ 'nh tmsk lrjl ldhy tHbh, rjl Hyth. kn mfhwman dhan 'n tshd bhdh l`zm `l~ yd twms. friedrich-nietzche friedrich-nietzsche love milan-kundera neitzsche novel philosophy philosophy-of-life political psychological psychology religion religion-and-philoshophy sex sociology اجتماع جنس حب علم-نفس فلسفة فلسفة-حياة كائن-لا-تحتمل-خفته ميلان-كونديرا نيتشه ميلان كونديرا
10fdac3 "An enthusiastic philosopher, of whose name we are not informed, had constructed a very satisfactory theory on some subject or other, and was not a little proud of it. "But the facts, my dear fellow," said his friend, "the facts do not agree with your theory."--"Don't they?" replied the philosopher, shrugging his shoulders, "then, ;"--so much the worse for the facts!" philosophy theory Charles Mackay
815ebf0 "If Elvis ..is the definition of rock, then rock is remembered as showbiz...It becomes a solely performative art form, where the meaning of a song matters less than the person singing it. It becomes ...if Dylan...becomes the definition of rock, everything reverses. In this contingency, lyrical authenticity becomes everything: Rock is galvanized as an intellectual craft, interlocked with the folk tradition...The fact that Dylan does not have a conventionally "good" singing voice becomes retrospective proof that rock audiences prioritized substance over style..." philosophy rock Chuck Klosterman
422b297 "When a problem or a difficult situation arises, say to yourself, as if you already believe it: "This is for my benefit." chris-prentiss-quotes passages-malibu philosophy philosophy-of-life quotes struggle wisdom Chris Prentiss
fb81042 "I rather liked him.I asked him to come and see us.' 'Oh Christ !' 'But, Bradley, you mustn't reject people,you musn't just write them of. You must be curious about them. Curiosity is kind of charity.' 'I don't think curiosity is a kind of charity. I think it's a kind of malice.' 'That's what makes a writer, knowing the details.' 'It may make your kind of writer. It doesn't make mine.' 'Here we go again,' said Arnold. 'Why pile up a jumble of "details"? When you start really imagining something you have to forget the details anyhow, they just get in the way. Art isn't the reproduction of oddments out of life.' 'I never said it was!' said Arnold. 'I don't draw direct from life.' 'Your wife thinks you do.' 'Oh that. Oh God.' 'Inquisitive chatter and cataloguing of things one's spotted isn't art. ' 'Of course it isn't -' 'Vague romantic myth isn't art either. Art is imagination. Imagination changes, fuses. Without imagination you have stupid details on one side and empty dreams on the othet.' 'Bradley, I know you -' 'Art isn't chat plus fantasy. Art comes out of endless restraint and silnce.' 'If the silence is endless there isn't any art! It's people without creative gifts who say that more mean worse!' 'One should only complete something when one feels one's bloody privileged to have it all. Those who only do what's easy will never be rewarded by -' philosophy writing Iris Murdoch
35f8d51 I wrote this book to show you that a cure is entirely possible because I've seen it happen over and over again. addiction-and-recovery addiction-cure addiction-free alcohol-abuse alcohol-addiction alcohol-addiction-treatment alcoholism-cure amazon author book bookstore chris-prentiss cure-addiction drug-abuse drug-addiction drug-addiction-treatment end-the-cycle freedom great-authors great-books kindle life new-book nook passages-malibu passages-ventura philosophy self-help sober sobriety wisdom Chris Prentiss
85456c9 How charming is divine Philosophy! Not harsh, and crabbed as dull fools suppose, But musical as is Apollo's lute, And a perpetual feast of nectar'd sweets, Where no crude surfet raigns. philosophy John Milton
1446294 "[T]aking the Third into account does not bring us into the position of pragmatic consideration, of comparing different Others; the task is rather to learn to distinguish between "false" conflicts and the "true" conflict. For example, today's conflict between Western liberalism and religious fundamentalism is a "false" one, since it is based on the exclusion of the third term which is its "truth": the Leftist emancipatory position." philosophy religion Slavoj Žižek
8d46cc4 To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts. Every man is tasked to make his life, even in its details, worthy of the contemplation of his most elevated and critical hour. philosophy Henry David Thoreau
cc97ca7 The moose will perhaps one day become extinct; but how naturally then, when it exists only as a fossil relic, and unseen as that, may the poet or sculptor invent a fabulous animal with similar branching and leafy horns, -- a sort of fucus or lichen in bone, -- to be the inhabitant of such a forest as this! philosophy wildlife Henry David Thoreau
3a428e7 They don't understand that religion and science are there to serve different purposes. We need science to understand how everything on this planet and beyond works - us, nature, everything we see around us. That's fact - no one with a working brain can question that. But we also need religion. Not for ridiculous counter-theories about things that science can prove. We need it for something else, to fill a different kind of need. The need for meaning. It's a basic need we have, as humans. And it's a need that's beyond the realm of science. Your scientists don't understand that it's a need they can't fulfill no matter how many Hadron colliders and Hubble telescopes they build- and your preachers don'[t understand that their job is to help you discover a personal, inner sense of meaning and not behave like a bunch of zealots intent on converting the rest of the planet to their rigid, literalist view of how everyone should live their lives. philosophy raymond-khoury religion science-and-religion Raymond Khoury
4c435a0 "In philosophy, metaphorical pluralism is the norm. Our most important abstract philosophical concepts, including time, causation, morality, and the mind, are all conceptualized by multiple metaphors, sometimes as many as two dozen. What each philosophical theory typically does is to choose one of those metaphors as "right," as the true literal meaning of the concept. One reason there is so much argumentation across philosophical theories is that different philosophers have chosen different metaphors as the "right" one, ignoring or taking as misleading all other commonplace metaphorical structurings of the concept. Philosophers have done this because they assume that a concept must have one and only one logic. But the cognitive reality is that our concepts have multiple metaphorical structurings." concept embodied-mind logic metaphor philosophy reason George Lakoff
33eb27d I find my data first in myself, not first in the poets. For if I did not find it in myself, I would not be able to find it in the poets. peter-kreeft philosophy poetry poets sea water Peter Kreeft
1d389a6 To be whole is to be part; true voyage is return. philosophy taoism Ursula K. Le Guin
5a08535 The true source of happiness is within each of us. philosophy zen zen-and-the-art-of-happiness Chris Prentiss
d9441c6 Si se lo permitimos, los ninos pueden ensenarnos la salida. Hay una historia muy conocida de una madre que entra en la habitacion de su hijo recien nacido y se encuentra a su otro hijo, un nino de cuatro anos, asomado a la cuna. -Tienes que contarme como es el cielo y como es Dios -le implora el nino a su hermanito-. !Estoy empezando a olvidarme! philosophy spanish wisdom Brian L. Weiss
41b56e3 My friend, it is not an arduous task that I bequeath, for our order knows only silken bonds. To be gentle and patient, to care for the riches of the mind, to preside in wisdom and secrecy while the storm rages without -- it will all be very pleasantly simple for you, and you will doubtless find great happiness. philosophy James Hilton
03fbe67 "individuals are concerned not with the moral issue of realizing these standards, but with the amoral issue of engineering a convincing impression that these standards are being realized. Our activity, then, is largely concerned with moral matters, but as performers we do not have a moral concern in these moral matters. As performers we are merchants of morality. Our day is given over to intimate contact with the goods we display and our minds are filled with intimate understandings of them; but it may well be that the more attention we give to these goods, th e more d is ta n t we feel from them and from those who are believing enough to buy them. To use a different imagery, the very obligation and profitablility of appearing always in a steady moral light, of being a socialized character, forces morals philosophy sociology Erving Goffman
bbda67b "A man feared that he might find an assassin; crane philosophy victim wisdom wise Stephen Crane
d29743e "Philosophy is like being in a dark room and looking for a black cat. Metaphysics is like being in a dark room and looking for a black cat that isn't there. christianity hinduism islam metaphysics philosophy religion science theology Anonymous
9a4b42f Considering he was neither priest nor scholar, the young man gave sensible, thoughtful replies -- the more so, perhaps, for being untrained, for he had not learned what he should believe or should not believe. Present a statement to him in flagrant contradiction to all Christian doctrine and he could be persuaded to agree on its good sense, unless he remembered it was the sort of thing of which pyres are made for the incautious. doctrine education freedom freedom-of-religion freedom-of-thought good-sense independent-thought inquisition persecution philosophy rationality reason schooling Iain Pears
5e07d38 ...the one certain thing in life is that no one can make the truth untrue simply because it hurts. inspirational-quotes morality philosophy true truth David Weber
c0f7a98 Ansar is an Arabic term that means helpers or supporters. They were the citizens of Medina who helped Prophet Mohammed upon His arrival to the Holy city. While 'Hussain' is a derivation of 'Hassan' that means 'GOOD' (I also owe this one to Khaled Hosseini). That's how my favorite character in my debut novel 'When Strangers meet..' gets his name... HUSSAIN ANSARI, because he is the one who helps Jai realize the truth in the story and inspires his son, Arshad, to have FAITH in Allah. anecdotes hassan hussain india inspirational islam iyer jai khaled-hosseini mecca medina mohammad mohammed mohmet muslim pakistan pathan pathanvali peace philosophy prophet trivia when-strangers-meet K. Hari Kumar
8e42c72 Empirical science, empiricism, takes no account of the soul, no account of what constitutes and determines personal being. philosophy science Oliver Sacks
6cd9b10 The most flattering spin I can put on this phase of paradoxes and metaphysical tangles is that I was smart enough, at age fourteen, to destroy any fledgling hypothesis I came up with. A tentative explanation, theory, or formulation would pop up in my brain only to be attacked by what amounted to a kind of logical immune system, bent on eliminating all that was weak or defective. Which is to say that my mind had become a scene of furious predation, littered with the half-eaten corpses of vast theories and brilliant syntheses. metaphysics philosophy rationality Barbara Ehrenreich
10eaeef On solemn festivals, Julian, who felt and professed an unfashionable dislike to these frivolous amusements, condescended to appear in the Circus; and, after bestowing a careless glance on five or six of the races, he hastily withdrew with the impatience of a philosopher, who considered every moment as lost that was not devoted to the advantage of the public or the improvement of his own mind. leasure philosophy Edward Gibbon
832afac I refuse to believe that gods want to make mortals unhappy and torment them. That's what humans do. And humans are very definitely not divine. humans karen-traviss philosophy religion Karen Traviss
8b6996b Terrorism has made our world an integrated community in a new and frightening way. Not merely the activities of our neighbors, but those of the inhabitants of the most remote mountain valleys of the farthest-flung countries of our planet, have become our business. We need to extend the reach of the criminal law there and to have the means to bring terrorists to justice without declaring war on an entire country in order to do it. For this we need a sound global system of criminal justice, so justice does not become the victim of national differences of opinion. We also need, though it will be far more difficult to achieve, a sense that we really are one community, that we are people who recognize not only the force of prohibitions against killing each other but also the pull of obligations to assist one another. This may not stop religious fanatics from carrying out suicide missions, but it will help to isolate them and reduce their support. philosophy political-philosophy politics Peter Singer
cf57761 ...moral relativism, a position many find attractive only until they are faced with someone who is doing something really, really wrong. moral-philosophy philosophy Peter Singer
e21b883 Morality means choice. Choice means priorities. Priorities mean a hierarchy. A hierarchy means something at the top, a standard. That is the greatest good. If you have no greatest good, you have no hierarchy, you have no priorities. If you have no priorities, you cannot make intelligent choices. If you cannot make intelligent moral choices, you have no morality. You can still guide your life by your feelings or by social fashions, but that is not choice - not free, responsible, moral choice. Both feelings and fashions push you; you are passive. But moral choice is your own doing; you are active. You are responsible for your choices but not for your feelings or for your environment's fashions. decision-making freedom morality philosophy Peter Kreeft
9369419 Or, to put it another way, presuppositional apologetics--such as that developed by Francis Schaeffer, but also by Cornelius Van Til and, to a degree, Herman Dooeyeweerd--rejects classical apologetics precisely because presuppositionalism recognizes the truth of Derrida's claim that everything is interpretation (though I am admittedly radicalizing their intuitions). derrida interpretation philosophy postmodernism presuppositional-apologetics James K.A. Smith
7230b8d By calling into question the very ideal of a universal, autonomous reason (which was, in the Enlightenment, the basis for rejecting religious thought) and further demonstrating that all knowledge is grounded in narrative or myth, Lyotard relativizes (secular) philosophy's claim to autonomy and so grants the legitimacy of a philosophy that grounds itself in Christian faith. Previously such a distinctly Christian philosophy would have been exiled from the 'pure' arena of philosophy because of its 'infection' with bias and prejudice. Lyotard's critique, however, demonstrates that no philosophy - indeed, no knowledge - is untainted by prejudice or faith commitments. In this way the playing field is leveled, and new opportunities to voice a Christian philosophy are created. Thus Lyotard's postmodern critique of metanarratives, rather than being a formidable foe of Christian faith and thought, can in fact be enlisted as an ally in the construction of a Christian philosophy. christianity knowledge lyotard metanarrative narrative objectivity philosophy prejudice the-enlightenment James K.A. Smith
db14a86 To give up power to change for the better is inherently distasteful to everyone, and to force people to affirm that they are addicts or alcoholics so they can speak in a meeting is shameful and demoralizing. addiction-treatment alcohol-abuse alcoholic alcoholism change chris-prentiss healing healing-abuse holistic-treatment life-improvement non-12-step passages-malibu passages-rehab passages-treatment passages-ventura pax-prentiss philosophy recovering-addict recovery rehab self-help therapy Chris Prentiss
50dbbfc You are not alone in your quest to be who you want and have what you want. chris-prentiss inspire passages-malibu passages-ventura philosophy Chris Prentiss
d4fe6f1 "The answers are never "out there." All the answers are "in there," inside you, waiting to be discovered." philosophy zen zen-and-the-art-of-happiness Chris Prentiss
1a2f2fe "Your actions create an "energy vortex" that draws in the necessary ingredients for your venture." happiness inspirational-quotes life philosophy zen zen-and-the-art-of-happiness Chris Prentiss
2f261df You can be happy if you are willing to let go of your past and leave yourself unencumbered so you can fly freely. happiness life philosophy zen zen-and-the-art-of-happiness Chris Prentiss
053d7df "What about you, Snipes?" Dunbar asked. "You think there to be mountain lions up here or is it just folks' imaginings?" Snipes pondered the question a few moments before speaking. They's many a man of science would claim there aint because you got no irredeemable evidence like panther scat or fur or tooth or tail. In other words, some part of the animal in questions. Or better yet having the actual critter itself, the whole think kit and caboodle head to tail, which all your men of science argue is the best proof of all a thing exists, whether it be a panther, or a bird, or even a dinosaur." To put it another way, if you was to stub your toe and tell the man of science what happened he'd not believe a word of it less he could see how it'd stoved up or was bleeding. But your philosophers and theologians and such say there's things in the world that's every bit as real even though you can't see them." Like what?" Dunbar asked. Well," Snipes said. "They's love, that's one. And courage. You can't see neither of them, but they're real. And air, of course. That's one of your most important examples. You wouldn't be alive a minute if there wasn't air, but nobody's ever seen a single speck of it." courage darkness faith love philosophy science Ron Rash
c64c71a Yes, I felt guilt. Somehow I had pushed Fand to the precipice without realizing it, and had I not been so blind, perhaps she wouldn't be trying to pull us all over the edge with her now. I was sure Manannan felt it too-the crushing questions of how we got to this place and whether we could have avoided it, where we went wrong, and whether we would ever learn how not to cock up other people's lives in the course of living our own. philosophy Kevin Hearne
91b81be In truth, philosophy is the mode of thought shaped by the most radical form of prejudice: the passion of being-in-the-world. With the sole exception of specialists in the field, virtually everyone senses that anything which offers less than this passion play remains philosophically trivial. Cultural anthropologists suggest the appealing term 'deep play' for the comprehensively absorbing preoccupations of human beings. From the perspective of a theory of the practising life we would add: the deep plays are those which are moved by the heights. deep-play passion philosophy Peter Sloterdijk
b0a43ed The truth, he thought, has never been of any real value to any human being- it is a symbol for mathematicians and philosophers to pursue. I human relations kindness and lies are worth a thousand truths. lies mathematics philosophy truth Graham Greene
7d671fe "[E]very man ought to say to himself, "Am I really the kind of man who has the right to act in such a way that humanity might guide itself by my actions?" philosophy sartre Jean-Paul Sartre
d3afe94 We find the same situation in the economy. On the one hand, the battered remnants of production and the real economy; on the other, the circulation of gigantic amounts of virtual capital. But the two are so disconnected that the misfortunes which beset that capital - stock market crashes and other financial debacles - do not bring about the collapse of real economies any more. It is the same in the political sphere: scandals, corruption and the general decline in standards have no decisive effects in a split society, where responsibility (the possibility that the two parties may respond to each other) is no longer part of the game. This paradoxical situation is in a sense beneficial: it protects civil society (what remains of it) from the vicissitudes of the political sphere, just as it protects the economy (what remains of it) from the random fluctuations of the Stock Exchange and international finance. The immunity of the one creates a reciprocal immunity in the other - a mirror indifference. Better: real society is losing interest in the political class, while nonetheless availing itself of the spectacle. At last, then, the media have some use, and the 'society of the spectacle' assumes its full meaning in this fierce irony: the masses availing themselves of the spectacle of the dysfunctionings of representation through the random twists in the story of the political class's corruption. All that remains now to the politicians is the obligation to sacrifice themselves to provide the requisite spectacle for the entertainment of the people. philosophy politics Jean Baudrillard
e6d6ba1 Humboldt's early biographer, F.A. Schwarzenberg, subtitled his life of Humboldt What May Be Accomplished in a Lifetime. He summarised the areas of his subject's extraordinary curiosity as follows: '1) The knowledge of the Earth and its inhabitants. 2) The discovery of the higher laws of nature, which govern the universe, men, animals, plants, minerals. 3) The discovery of new forms of life. 4) The discovery of territories hitherto but imperfectly known, and their various productions. 5) The acquaintance with new species of the human race--- their manners, their language and the historical traces of their culture.' What may be accomplished in a lifetime---and seldom or never is. accomplish-the-impossible alexander-von-humboldt explorers philosophy scientists travel Alain de Botton
55adefa we would not reliably assent to reproduce unless we first had lost our minds. philosophy relationships schopenhauer Alain de Botton
abee3b8 Every fall into love is the triumph of hope over self-knowledge essays idealization love on-love philosophy Alain de Botton
9932dd4 What's supposed to be and what is, are two very different things. dreams inspirational life philosophy supposed Rebecca McNutt
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