To laugh often and much;
to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate the beauty;
to find the best in others;
to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded!”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The difference between real material poison and intellectual poison is that most material poison is disgusting to the taste, but intellectual poison, which takes the form of cheap newspapers or bad books, can unfortunately sometimes be attractive.”
Leo Tolstoy, The Calendar of Wisdom
Continue reading “Do You Have To Say Something New?”“People with new ideas, people with the faintest capacity for saying something new, are extremely few in number, extraordinarily so in fact. One thing only is clear, that the appearance of all these grades and sub-divisions of men must follow with unfailing regularity some law of nature. That law, of course, is unknown at present, but I am convinced that it exists, and one day may become known. The vast mass of mankind is mere material and only exists in order by some great effort, by some mysterious process, by means of some crossing of races and stocks, to bring into the world at last perhaps one man out of a thousand with a spark of independence. One in ten thousand perhaps—I speak roughly, approximately—is born with some independence, and with still greater independence one in a hundred thousand. The man of genius is one of the millions, and the great geniuses, the crown of humanity, appear on earth perhaps one in many thousand million. In fact, I have not peeped into the retort in which all this takes place. But there certainly is and must be a definite law, it cannot be a matter of chance. ”
I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone – if possible – Jew, Gentile – black man – white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness – not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.
Continue reading “More than machinery we need humanity.”We all want a good life – good health, good food, adequate shelter, a harmonious family, a rewarding career. In short, a life we can enjoy.
For many, this happens to be possible, but for many, it does not. Why is that? What is that makes a difference in lives?
When I came upon Stoicism, I immediately become a fancier. I felt an exalting delight of relief, comfort and joy, for, in many of its concepts, I recognized my own insights. I spent a lot of time reading, thinking and introducing others to the ideas of Stoicism. In many aspects, it is similar to Buddhism, to which I also relate. So, I absorbed all wise words of all these wise men and tried to apply them to soothe my worries, anxieties and fears. Yet, slowly one question started corroding my philosophical delight:
Does Stoicism actually apply to a mother?
Does any philosophy at all apply to a mother?
There are truths so unpleasant that we chose to ignore them. There are truths so apparent that we simply overlook them.
Continue reading “Everything Passes. This Too, Will Pass.”“As far as we can tell from a purely scientific viewpoint, human life has absolutely no meaning. Humans are the outcome of blind evolutionary processes that operate without goal or purpose. Our actions are not part of some divine cosmic plan, and if planet earth were to blow up tomorrow morning, the universe would probably keep going about its business as usual. As far as we can tell at this point, human subjectivity would not be missed. Hence any meaning that people inscribe to their lives is just a delusion.”
― Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
All of the human unhappiness comes from one single thing: not knowing how to remain at rest in a room.- Blaise Pascal
We live fast-forwarded lives in a fast-forwarded world. We can not stop; the world can not stop. We hurry, we are always in a hurry. And we worry, we always worry. And we are busy; we are always busy.
We can not hear our own thoughts.
But then something happens, and we must stop. And then, we found ourselves in a room. And then the question comes:
Do you know how to remain at rest in a room?
Thinker's Notes 