The burning conviction that we have a holy duty towards others is often a way of attaching our drowning selves to a passing raft. What looks like a giving hand is often a holding on for dear life. Take away our holy duties and you leave our lives puny and meaningless. There is no doubt that in exchanging a self-centered for a selfless life we gain enormously in self-esteem. The vanity of the selfless, even those who practice utmost humility, is boundless.
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Insanity -- a perfectly rational adjustment to an insane world.
Insanity -- a perfectly rational adjustment to an insane world.
The class of those who have the ability to think their own thoughts is separated by an unbridgeable gulf from read more
The class of those who have the ability to think their own thoughts is separated by an unbridgeable gulf from the class of those who cannot.
Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life. Thus people haunted by the purposelessness of their lives read more
Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life. Thus people haunted by the purposelessness of their lives try to find a new content not only by dedicating themselves to a holy cause but also by nursing a fanatical grievance. A mass movement offers them unlimited opportunities for both.
If you're going to do something tonight that you'll be sorry for tomorrow, sleep late.
If you're going to do something tonight that you'll be sorry for tomorrow, sleep late.
The new frontiers to be conquered are mainly in the convolutions of the cortex.
The new frontiers to be conquered are mainly in the convolutions of the cortex.
Ideas are everywhere, but knowledge is rare.
Ideas are everywhere, but knowledge is rare.
Any young person who has studied Heidegger; or seen Ionesco's 'plays'; or listened to the 'music' of John Cage; or read more
Any young person who has studied Heidegger; or seen Ionesco's 'plays'; or listened to the 'music' of John Cage; or looked at Andy Warhol's 'paintings'- has experienced that feeling of incredulous puzzlement: But this is nonsense! Can I really be expected to take this seriously?In fact, of course, it is necessary for it to be nonsense; if it made sense, it could be evaluated. The essence of modern intellectual snobbery is the 'emperor's new cloths' approach. Teachers, critics, our self-appointed intellectual elite, make it quite clear to us that if we cannot see the superlative nature of this 'art'- why, it merely shows our ignorance, our lack of sophistication and insight. Of course, they go beyond the storybook emperor's tailors, who dressed their victim in nothing and called it fine garments. The modern tailors dress the emperor in garbage.
Habits... the only reason they persist is that they are offering some satisfaction. You allow them to persist by not read more
Habits... the only reason they persist is that they are offering some satisfaction. You allow them to persist by not seeking any other, better form of satisfying the same needs. Every habit, good or bad, is acquired and learned in the same way -- by finding that it is a means of satisfaction.
What are we when we are alone? Some, when they are alone, cease to exist.
What are we when we are alone? Some, when they are alone, cease to exist.
