Aphorisms and Observations – Page 18

Not Enough Time! A Philosopher’s Lament

There is not enough time to understand this life in time, but then it is such a fleeting, paltry thing, such a blend of form and formlessness, such a chiaroscuro of light and dark, such a scene of desires insistent yet insatiable, ultimately unknowable and ultimately unreal — that the time allotted is perhaps time enough.

Gloomy Days

On sunny days the truth of our predicament is less visible than on gloomy days.

Night Thoughts

Night thoughts are the specters that haunt the philosopher in the twilight zone between sleeping and waking. Recent examples:

Man is noble in that he thinks the thought and raises the question of the Absolute while questioning the question.
Man is noble in that he is wretched. Only a spiritual animal can be wretched.
Man is spirit in that he is capable of self-degradation. His nobility manifests itself in his self-abasement.
Man is flesh and yet free.
Man is a question he poses to himself.

Words and Distinctions

The wise do not quibble over words, but they do insist on distinctions. One of the latter is that between distinctions and the words in which they are couched.

Hatred of Apostates

This is another similarity between leftists and radical Muslims.

The Dyslexic Dems

They read 'U.S.' as 'S. U.'

The Dead

Where they are, we will be. And soon enough. But people think they have plenty of time. They fool themselves. Don't put off until the eleventh hour your preparation for death. You may die at 10:30.

Compensation

With the advance of years, hearing declines. With the advance of wisdom, so does the desire to listen to people and their bushwa.

Useless Rehearsals

Rehearsals are for a future performance. Why then are you 'rehearsing' that altercation with so-and-so from twenty years ago? Do you plan to bring it back to the stage?

Words and Distinctions

A wise man does not quibble over words, but he insists on distinctions.

Grievance, Demand, and Supply

The elimination of the causes of grievance does little to dampen demand for the need to feel aggrieved, a demand the Left is ever eager to supply, especially in matters racial.

(My formulation of a Larry Elders riff.)

Human Relations

In human relations an excess of past often insures an absence of future. Newly-minted friendships, however, are pregnant with future but at risk in an age of abortion.