Death & Readiness

Beware
Death prefers to come
When one is not prepared
Unless one is prepared
At all times.
01.31.13

Intelligence & Excellence

Intelligence
Has little to do
With excellence;
Intelligence is biological
Whereas excellence is
Characterological.
01.30.13

Money & Favors

Pubstitution
Is paying money
To public institutions
In exchange for favors.
01.29.13

Personalities & Tolerance

Because we cannot
Exit our personalities
To suit those of others
We should not ask others
To exit their personalities
In order to suit our own;
Tolerance is the only key
To peaceful coexistence.
01.28.13

Personalities &

Language & Behavior

Like good behavior
Good language ennobles
And like poor behavior
Poor language demeans;
Appearances hold their worth
But only until one speaks or behaves.
01.27.13

Stories & Decisions

For every good story
There are thousands of bad ones
And for every bad story
There are thousands of good ones;
It is wise not to make decisions
Based on any one story
Lest we all become gamblers
Because someone won the jackpot.
01.26.13

Realities & Dreams

What would we do without dreams?
Though most of them don’t come true
It’s the dreaming that ultimately counts
Because imagination is our primal refuge
From the growling realities that bark at us.
01.25.13

Disappointments & Homo sapiens

Chronic disappointments are universal, pervasive
And highly specific human sentiments;
Every human and group of humans
Harbor disappointments towards
Other humans and groups of humans.
Chronic disappointments are not exhibited
By any other creature on earth except Homo sapiens;
What a distinction! 
01.24.13

Praise & Criticism

Our sensitivity to praise
And resistance to criticism
Unless reversed with maturity
Will hinder our self-knowledge
And undermine our growth. 
01.23.13

Invisible & Love

To love a woman
The man needs to find her
Beautiful when unmade-up
Sexy when overweight
Exciting when moody
And young when aging;
Love sees beauty
Invisible to eyes.
01.22.13

Enlightenment & Education

Education and enlightenment are unrelated;
Whereas information and thought
Which further power and prosperity
Are the keynotes of education,
Humility, and compassion
Which further knowledge and wisdom
Are the keynotes of enlightenment.
Education is power;
Enlightenment is character.
01.21.13

Anger & Animals

Anger
A primitive reflex
Turns us into animals
Whenever we fail
To control it.
01.20.13

Realities & Hope

Proportioning ones aspirations
To one’s possibilities
Is wisdom;
Expanding one’s imagination
Beyond one’s realities
Is hope;
Loving one’s life
Regardless of its thorns
Plants a rose in nature’s garden.  
01.19.13

Awareness & Aware

Lack of awareness
Punishes the aware.
01.18.13

Enlightenment & Primitiveness

Primitiveness is the base from which
Human nature rises against gravity
Towards enlightenment
And then sinks back to primitiveness
Whenever its upward struggle
Stops or is intercepted.
01.17.13

Distant & Close

Missing one afar is easy;
Missing one close
Is only possible
With deepest love.
01.16.13

Humanity & Celebration

Humanity
To celebrate
Needs an excuse
Even though everyday
Is but a grand celebration.
01.15.13

Ideas & Realities

Societies, communities, and families
Are tethered together by ideas
Which define their identities;
Ideas are our virtual realities.
01.14.13

Government & Wisdom

There has never been
In recorded history
A peoples' government
Renown for its intelligence
Or for its wisdom. 
01.13.13

Truth & True

Truth is
What we think it is
And not what it really is;
And it changes as our minds change. 
01.12.13

Appearance & Substance

When the preoccupation
With manners and correctness
Exceeds the comfortable human limits
It trades the natural freedom of substance
For the sole dignity of appearance and pretense.
01.11.13

Flexibility & Robots

When an establishment loses the flexibility
To individualize and exceptionalize
It becomes a robot.
01.10.13

Complaining & Venting

When someone bends your ear, complaining
Remember that they are merely venting;
If you counter, they will feel worse
If you listen, they will feel better
And will stop complaining. 
01.09.13

New & Old

When the eyes
Perceive something as new
Regardless of how old it might be
It turns new again.
01.08..13

Temper & Love

Iratus Libidinus
Was sentenced by Zeus
To make love with everyone
That caused him to lose his temper;
Iratus never lost his temper again.
01.07.13

When we discourse upon subjects
Beyond the orbits of our expertise
We arrive at dangerous conclusions.
01.06.12

Primitive & Democracy

Historically
Primitive peoples assassinate democracies
And fester dictatorships, which then turn around
And assassinate their primitive peoples.
01.05.13

Young & Elderly

When the young take care of their elderly
They learn love, kindness, humility, and forbearance
Without which, they grow up to become
Reckless, insensitive brutes.
01.04.13

Predator & Life

The most pernicious
Predator of life
Is age.
01.03.13

Life & Meaning

Accepting ourselves
Makes us humble;
Liking ourselves
Leaves us happy;
Feeling loved
Gives us confidence;
And loving widely
Brings our lives meaning.
01.02.13

Aging & Recreation

We all used to be
What we no longer are;
Aging is continuous recreation.
01.01.13