We need those who march in the parade, but we also need those who merely observe and ask where it is going.
Category: Aphorisms and Observations
Plato
Both his greatness as a thinker and the probity of his quest for truth are revealed in the fact that Plato is not only the father of the Theory of Forms, but also the author of the most penetrating criticisms of them.
(By the way, the above aphorism is crafted in such a way as to demonstrate that the antecedent of a pronoun need not be its antecedent in the order of reading.)
Thinker and Doer
The thinker, because he is a thinker, cannot naively live his life of thought, but must be tormented by doubts regarding it. The doer, because he is not a thinker, can naively live his life of action.
Between Thought and Action
Between thought and action lies speech, which can substitute for either. It can just as easily mask thoughtlessness as impede action.
Right speech, however, does not substitute for thought or action, but mediates them. Giving expression to thought, it enables intelligent action.
Man and Beast
The beast in a man is more bestial than any beast.
No animal can be bestial, only a man can be. For only man is spirit, and only a spiritual being can degrade itself.
A Most Amazing Time to be Alive
I am sitting in the air-conditioned comfort of my study before a magic box. By means of this 'box,' and without stirring from my chair, I did the following this morning: engaged in world-wide electronic correspondence; searched for, found, downloaded and printed out an obscure 19th century article from the JSTOR database; entered the 'card' catalogs of a couple of libraries; played and analyzed chess via the Internet Chess Club; viewed and listened to an old speech by Trotsky via YouTube; discovered and enjoyed an old tune I hadn't heard in 30 years via the same YouTube; published my thoughts to the world via my weblog; received and responded to comments from readers; got the directions to a local German restaurant; worked on an article.
And you don't think the Western culture that made and makes possible this marvellous technology is worth defending?
Petty Misfortunes
We should give our own petty misfortunes the same attention we give those of others, which is to say, not much.
Nietzsche
His was the throbbing heart of the homo religiosus wedded to be bladed intellect of the skeptic.
Why Use Big Words?
To force lazy bums off their asses, and lazy asses off their bums.
The Religious Man’s Positivism
Superstition is the religious man's positivism.
Love Thy Neighbor
It is easy to feel compassion for those distant in time and space. But we are enjoined to love our neighbor. This is made somewhat easier by careful choice of one's neighborhood.
Liberace and Liberation
Did Liberace seek liberation? No, he sought to make a big showy splash in the world — which he did. But now the ripples have all subsided, and all that is left is a cheesy Las Vegas museum stuffed with his gaudy possessions –except that he no longer possesses what once possessed him.
Left and Right
For a leftist, one can never be too far left, and anyone the least bit conservative is a 'fascist.'
Generalizations are the Offspring of Wisdom
People foolishly oppose generalization. One often hears, 'Never generalize!' But of course that itself is a generalization in the imperative mood. The partisan of brute particularity who so opines is hoist by his own petard.
So it was with pleasure that I heard Dennis Prager one day remark that "Generalizations are the mother of wisdom." But being a quibbler and a pedant, I cannot forebear to suggest an improvement:
Generalizations are the offspring of wisdom
or
Generalization is wisdom's distillate.
For wisdom does not spring from generalization; it is rather that generalizations spring from wisdom as its expression and codification.
No Comity Without Commonality
Would that the fetishizers of diversity and inclusion understood that social harmony presupposes commonality. But theirs is a bogus diversity and inclusiveness in any case, excluding as it does those who disagree with them.