Random Thoughts (Part 19)

If only money was as capable of caring about people as much as people care about money.

Do not strip away life’s little illusions, for without them life is merely death, flowers merely dirt. And then we are unafraid to die but afraid to live. For belief is life, all else is nothing.

  

Genius must ever border on madness. It must see things as no one else does, must come from a viewpoint different than the world’s. Both must separate themselves from the world, to believe that what others accept as obvious is wrong, to confidently disagree with the commonly held beliefs. Both are a step away from being thought the other, sometimes depending on little strokes of luck.

How many psychologists, rather than focusing on how to raise healthy children, study instead how many times a child has to pester his parents before they take him to McDonald’s?

Genius doesn’t have to be right, it just has to be honest.

It takes no great wisdom to see the problems that lie ahead for an addict if he follows his addiction. Similarly, it is not difficult to diagnose the illness, much harder to treat it. So too there is no great skill in the role of the prophet who sees a society heading in the wrong direction. The trick is in convincing a society to change its course.

How many more guns will be required before we achieve world peace?

There are eras when all you want to do is keep up on the newest thing, since new ideas and perspectives are being floated about at every instant. Then there are eras when you are best to retreat into the past, where the genius that once existed will always be available. From those who spend their time in the past shall come the vibrant eras of tomorrow.

The saddest thing about life is that we can see it but never really taste it. It is there, it is real, we know it. And yet we can never get closer than yearning, for our itch is never fully scratched.

I don’t want us to be the species that ruins it for the rest. What we do not consume we poison. Sometimes we do both. Perhaps that is how we shall end, by consuming the poisons we have created.

Build on questions, do not build on answers. Answers are the death of thought.

When trying to understand why events worked out the way they did, never overlook random chance and stupidity as contributing factors.

If you are constantly criticizing the “other side” for their opinions without actually putting forth positive alternatives, don’t pretend you are not the problem.

Most people respond better to simple truths repeated often rather than extended stories that more fully encompass what is. They prefer rhythm to melody.

Books are like batteries for ideas. They can be stored away for ages, only to supply a spark to someone long after.

A thousand cultures used to have each their own stories, all based upon their experiences with nature. Now we have one story, based on marketing.

Notable moments of decline: when people began to express themselves through their choice of underwear.

We must deny the past’s opinions or we would not be able to tolerate what we have become.

Most people are not aware of their motivations, though they suffer from the illusion that they do.

The problem is a lot of people get paid a lot of money to tell lies, and no one is paid to speak the truth.

Damn right the world has a lot of problems, and I can tell you two of the main causes for them: those who think they have all the answers for them, and those who think there’s nothing they can do about them.

If patriotism is a scoundrel’s last refuge, then the concept of freedom is his first sales pitch.

  

We do not become bitter because we lose. We lose when we become bitter.

There are two problems with growing old: the first is all the things you have loved and thought would be around forever changing, the other is all the things you hated and couldn’t wait to see pass stick around.

I am enough of a conservative that when I walk through a crosswalk I don’t leave my safety in the hands of others, but I am enough of a liberal to appreciate the crosswalk being there.

You don’t need a gun to be brave nor do you need to engage in violence to show courage.

You have the right to do things you shouldn’t. Don’t.

A kiss was once more of a commitment to marriage than a child is nowadays.

If we do not remember our own sins while noticing the sins of others, we are merely adding to our own pile.