When you are at a loss for what to do, remember that the
answer is to love, not hate, to have faith rather than fear. Always. Because
love grows from love, hate from hate. Faith like fear radiates out into the
world. Faith makes the world a safer place for us, though it does not always
seem to be the case. Sometimes hate seems to be the safer course, but that is
merely fear talking.
There are two ways people choose to look at humanity. The
first is to subject humans to the worst possible conditions and respond to how
they act by saying, “this is what humans are like beneath the veneer of
civilization.” The second is to encourage people, forgive them when they have
erred, and say “this is what we are capable of.”
You cannot effect positive change with negative thoughts and
emotions.
Peaceful protest requires more courage than going to war. In
war you can abandon yourself to primitive impulses, to the kill-or-be-killed
mentality. The peaceful protester must face violence fully aware, must
experience it with all the sensitivity civilization has imparted.
Once upon a time there was a law beyond the market, but no
more. Once religion or love of king and country were foremost in a person’s
mind, but now there is only profit.
The intellect is a boat which can take us to the very shores
of understanding, but once there we must leave it behind in order to grasp true
meaning.
To entertain a child is to open his eyes to a larger
universe, to present new possibilities to him. But to entertain an adult is to
distract him from that larger universe. An adult does not need to be
entertained, he can truly experience life rather than have it explained.
We are too busy reacting to reflect. Leisure is our greatest
treasure, and we have lost the ability to appreciate it.
You are not the man you were five years ago, you are the man
he made.
A story is merely a vessel for something more important.
It is not whether you win or lose, it is the game you choose
to play that matters most.
Never argue philosophy when facts are available—unless the
facts are against you.
The longer one remains a fool, the harsher the lesson
learned.
Technological progress will never compensate for our moral
and spiritual shortcomings. In fact, in the final analysis, it will make
matters even worse, will place powerful new tools in the hands of our lesser
angels.
Life has not changed even slightly since the time it first
appeared on the earth, merely the packaging, the bodies it wraps itself in.
Our greatest minds used to pursue beauty and truth, now they
pursue marketing and amusement. There is no one looking out for us.
Perhaps big brother has not yet arrived, but we have left
the door wide open for him, and set out the welcome mat.
The intellect does not enable one to experience the divine,
but it can help spot the false prophet.
See it as it is, not how it fits into your life story. As
you grow towards adulthood and begin to have an understanding of life, the
pieces that do not fit the narrative you have written tend to fall to the wayside.
So much we perceived in childhood is forgotten because it is inconvenient.
The more we are conscious of being observed the less we act
according to our own motivations and act in reaction to those we believe are
watching us. Who at work feels they are doing their best when they have the
eyes of their supervisor on them? And when are we ever left to ourselves
nowadays? When does someone have the opportunity to truly be an individual, the
best person he can be? When do we write down our thoughts for ourselves rather
than for an audience, when do we care more about what something means than how
it is perceived?
We are caught between Eden and the Promised Land, believing
there was once or ever will be a resting point.
No child believes he will look like his parents when he
grows up. It is an idea too horrible for a young mind to contemplate.
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