Nothing is true because it is consoling, but that does not preclude certain truths from being consoling. So one cannot refute a position by showing that some derive consolation from it. Equally, no support for a position is forthcoming from the fact that it thwarts our interests or dashes our hopes.
Category: Aphorisms and Observations
Against Best Play
It may be that in philosophy it is as in chess: against best play one can only hope for a draw.
Too Deep to be Merely Social
The evil of human nature runs too deep to have merely social or environmental causes. This is a truth illustrated by the willfullness of those who refuse to understand it.
The Value of Enemies
One can sometimes learn best from one's enemies since they will most certainly attack where one is weakest.
Like Trying to Feed the Unhungry
You don't waste time trying to serve food to those with full bellies or no bellies. Why then do you teach philosophy? To fill your belly.
Assignable to the Future
We assign death to the future. But the death so assignable is not the one that threatens us.
Putting On One’s Face
Before leaving the house one must put on one's face. The step into the social is by dissimulation.
Success Enough?
Money in my pocket, food in my belly, clothes on my back, a roof over my head, physical and mental health. What does it say about us that the possession of things like these is not success enough? Aim high! Try high! Forget Bukowski.
Write it Down!
Visitors do not like being snubbed. If a good thought deigns to make an appearance before the portal of your mind, write it down. Snubbed, it may never come again. But even if it does, will it come clothed in the same felicitous finery of formulation?
Exception and Rule
It is regrettably the rule, not the exception, for a person to make an exception in his own case.
Necessary but Not Sufficient
Acceptance of one's lot in life is necessary but not sufficient for happiness.
The Joy of Philosophy
One of its joys is the joy of the hunt — for very big game indeed. And one advantage of hunting is that its joy does not require the finding, or even the existence, of the hunted.
The Strangeness of the Ordinary
A philosopher is one who is attuned to the strangeness of the ordinary.
The Mystery of Mind
The mystery of mind is summed up in the seemingly oxymoronic phrase 'intrinsic relationality.'
The Platonist Speaks
If it won't matter by tomorrow that these eggs are undercooked, why does it matter now?