Category: Aphorisms and Observations
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Overheard at the Arboretum
Life's a beech.
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Miniscule and Majuscule; catholic and Catholic
I am too catholic to be much of a Catholic. But if one needs institutionalized religion, one could do far worse, assuming one can stomach the secular-humanist liberal namby-pambification and wussification that the post-Vatican II church can't seem to resist, the dilution of doctrine and tradition that empties into the nauseating Church of Nice. There…
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Lot, Loot, and Light
It is in keeping with our lot that we should seek, not the loot of the lottery, but the light of the Lord. Related articles After Aristotle
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A Christian Paradox
Man is godlike and therefore proud. He becomes even more godlike when he humbles himself. The central thought of Christianity, true or not, is one so repellent to the natural human pride of life that one ought at least to entertain the unlikelihood of its having a merely human origin. The thought is that God…
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More than an Animal
An animal that knows it's one is more than one.
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Vain Yet Serious
The paradoxical tension between the vanity of life and its moral seriousness. Related: Amiel on Duty
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A Hell of (a) Pleasure
If hell is separation from God, why wouldn't a body held in thrall by sensuous pleasure do as well as a body wracked with pain? Absorbed in sensuous pleasure, one is arguably farther from God than when in pain.
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Person and Potential
A person with undeveloped potential is not a potential person.
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A Crass Measure of Autonomy
A crass measure of autonomy is the American measure: automobility.
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Absence and Presence
If absence makes the heart grow fonder, as sometimes it does, it is equally true that sometimes presence makes the fickle look yonder. It is in keeping with the chiaroscuro of our life here below that love and friendship thrive best on a blend of absence and presence.
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No One Excluded
Everyone can make a contribution if the level of the conversation is low enough.
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The Old Man
He fills up quickly, but empties slowly.
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Reason and Rationalization
Reason in us is so weak that we often cannot tell what is reason and what rationalization.
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On Spending Time
What will you buy with the time you spend? And will you be able to justify your purchases should you be called to account?
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Dubious Compensation
Memory compensates us for the passage of time, but it also ensures that we will never forget that we are subject to it. Yet better to be a man than an animal held hostage to the passing moment but oblivious of the fact.