Thought of the Day

Power & Abuse

2012-01-30T05:53:00.001-08:00

As power invites abuse
Likewise, abuse invites power.
01.30.12

Anger & Good

2012-01-29T07:23:00.001-08:00

Anger
Blinds us to the good
In whatever we’re angry at.
01.29.12

Fulfillment & Denial

2012-01-28T06:06:00.001-08:00

Desires are ephemeral, when snuffed by fulfillment
And exaggerated, when kindled by denial.
01.28.11

Wise & Sure

2012-01-27T07:43:00.001-08:00

The wise worry whenever they feel sure
Because most things they have felt sure about
Turn out not to be as true as they once had thought.
01.27.12

Envy & Joy

2012-01-26T06:19:00.001-08:00

Of all the fortunates on earth
The most enviable are those who
In spite of life’s storms and droughts
Remain ever joyful.
01.26.12

Programming & Ontogenesis

2012-01-25T06:27:00.001-08:00

What we become has more to do
With what programmed our brains
When they were impressionable
Than with our ontogenesis.
01.25.12

Learning & Studying

2012-01-24T06:22:00.000-08:00

Few are those who learn
Without having to
And fewer, who study
Without needing to.
01.24.12

Revolution & Chaos

2012-01-23T05:58:00.000-08:00

Revolutions
Initially, bring chaos and blood shed
Though eventually might bring about order.
01.23.12

Opinion & Gut

2012-01-22T06:07:00.000-08:00

The proclivity to formulate an opinion
Based on gut feelings or insufficient evidence
Is a universal and most detrimental human attribute.
01.22.12

Nature & Nations

2012-01-21T08:11:00.000-08:00

There has never been a nation on earth
That has not been defeated
By human nature.
01.21.12

Beauty & Truth

2012-01-20T08:26:00.001-08:00

We are beauty hunters, gatherers, and worshipers
Because we confuse beauty with good, ugliness with bad
And pay dear money for a picture, which shows us beautiful
Even though our real image has long lost its appeal.
01.20.12

Egos & Defenses

2012-01-18T22:01:00.000-08:00

How we regard ourselves
Has less to do with how others regard us
And more to do with our innate ego defenses
Which, regardless of external facts
Insist on seeing the self
In a positive light.
01.19.11

Subjective & Objective

2012-01-17T21:56:00.001-08:00

There are three perceptions of ‘Better’:
Those who feel better when they’re better
Those who don’t feel better when they’re better
And those who even feel worse when they’re better;
The balance between the subjective and objective
Ultimately determines that which is perceived.
01.18.12

Understanding & Compassion

2012-01-17T06:05:00.001-08:00

There is no true understanding
Without compassion.
01.17.12

Life & Exile

2012-01-16T06:07:00.000-08:00

Those who say no to life
Send their souls
Into Exile.
01.16.12

Sophistication & Joy

2012-01-15T06:33:00.001-08:00

The ultimate sophistication
Is joy.
01.15.12

Physical & Intellectual

2012-01-14T05:59:00.000-08:00

Physical pleasures
And Physical desires
Slowly diminish with age
While those of the intellect
Continue to prosper and grow.
01.14.12

Wine & Company

2012-01-13T07:32:00.000-08:00

Bad wine
Consumed in good company
Tastes good
And good wine
Consumed in bad company
Tastes bad.
01.13.11

Important & Fools

2012-01-12T05:46:00.001-08:00

Some fools might think that they are important
But all who think they are important are fools.
01.12.12

Knowable & Unknowable

2012-01-11T05:53:00.001-08:00

We expend more energy
Trying to explain the unknowable
Than trying to comprehend the knowable.
01.11.12

Indoctrination & Conflict

2012-01-10T05:06:00.001-08:00

Of all our planet’s lethal pollutants
Atavistic pollution of the young minds
Of intellectually defenseless children
Foments most future conflicts.
01.10.12

Language & Bricks

2012-01-09T05:31:00.000-08:00

Our language
Our highest achievement, perhaps
Is made of building bricks, which we call words;
Some of us stack their bricks into unintelligible piles
Some build castles with high, unscalable walls
Some design homes with beautiful gardens
And a few build magnificent cathedrals.
01.09.12

Anger & Power

2012-01-08T10:17:00.000-08:00

The magnificent high of anger
Intoxicates us with the illusion
Of empowerment and resolve
Which causes us to cling to it
Oblivious of its dangers and harms.
01.08.12

Stimulation & Passion

2012-01-07T10:19:00.001-08:00

Stimulation and Passion
Are the parents of creativity and productivity;
Without them, joyless platitudes and slothful inertia.
01.07.12

Dictatorship & Details

2012-01-06T04:00:00.001-08:00

Freedom is an illusion
For even a free society
Is composed of dictatorships
Such as the insurance companies
The giant corporations, the lobbies
The IRS, the Military, and life’s details.
The only dictatorship within our control
Is that of details, which robs us of simplicity;
The more details we will allow into our lives
The more details we will have to attend to
And the less time we will have to be free.
01.06.12

Youth & Death

2012-01-05T03:09:00.001-08:00

Not even disease or death
Can rob an old man
Of his youth.
01.05.11

Feelings & Circumstance

2012-01-04T05:56:00.001-08:00

Everything human
Thoughts, actions, behaviors
Appearances, beliefs, expressions
Can be inflicted, influenced, or modified
By the relentlessly fierce forces of circumstance;
Our personal feelings, however, represent who we truly are
And though we are unable to willfully change our feelings
Our feelings—reasonable or not—do, indeed, change us.
01.14.11

Deat & Bribery

2012-01-03T06:29:00.001-08:00

One cannot bribe a dying man with treasure
But one can, with hope.
01.03.11

Significance & Joy

2011-12-19T17:12:00.000-08:00

We are of two temperaments;
Those who wish to leave their traces behind
And that gives significance to their lives and works
And those who have no such cares or desires
And live just for life and in the present moment.
12.20.11

Security & Insults

2011-12-18T22:26:00.000-08:00

Hypersensitivity
Mushrooms out of insecurity;
Insult the insecure
And a mushroom cloud arises;
Insult the secure
And they do not notice.
12.19.11

Permanence & Delusions

2011-12-18T07:15:00.000-08:00

All of life
And all its processes
Though always temporary
Are often regarded as permanent—
A perilous, slippery slope
Which conjures delusions
And promotes conflicts.
12.18.11

Happiness & Self

2011-12-17T07:17:00.001-08:00

Those who look for happiness
Beyond themselves
Seldom find it.
12.17.11

Enemies & Wars

2011-12-15T22:20:00.001-08:00

Powerful nations
Find great heroism and glory
In waging wars against external enemies;
Whereas wars against internal enemies, such as
Poverty, mental illness, illiteracy, waste, excesses, etc.
Are waged halfheartedly and are never won.
12.16.11

Greatness & Age

2011-12-15T06:05:00.000-08:00

One of the reasons why
Great nations decline with time
Is because their governments
Grow demented with age.
12.15.11

Good & Bad

2011-12-13T22:19:00.001-08:00

We are wired to generalize from details
Before proper examination of patterns;
Because of this inveterate tendency
To pass summary judgments in our minds
We summarily classify people as good or bad
When, in sooth, we all are good and bad
And only the proportions vary among us.
12.14.11

Details & Peace

2011-12-13T06:19:00.001-08:00

The number of details
A mind has to process
Is inversely proportional
To the state of inner peace;
Peace comes with simplicity
And turmoil, with complexity.
12.13.11

Belief & Danger

2011-12-12T06:31:00.001-08:00

The most dangerous race upon planet earth
Is the human race
And the most dangerous attributes of the human race
Are inculcated beliefs
And the most dangerous beliefs are those held as truths
Without evidence or examination or regard for others.
12.12.11

Romanticism & Reality

2011-12-11T07:24:00.000-08:00

One of the most poignant examples
That demonstrates our inherent romanticism
Is our tendency to provide naïvely simple explanations
For our most profound and complicated emotional problems.
12.11.11

Information & Judgment

2011-12-10T07:39:00.000-08:00

Informing one’s self by reading
Where one has no experience or judgment
Is a major source of wasteful and costly mistakes.
12.10.11

Might & Ethics

2011-12-09T06:42:00.001-08:00

Mighty nations
Do not become powerful
Utilizing kindness and compassion;
That is why they’re all inherently unethical.
12.09.11

Enemy & Hate

2011-12-08T06:26:00.001-08:00

The word enemy
Is a euphemism for hate
And sanctions inhumane behavior.
12.08.11

City & Cemetery

2011-12-07T06:19:00.001-08:00

Seen from the air on a foggy day
A city resembles a crowded cemetery.
12.07.11

Virtues & Vices

2011-12-05T22:04:00.001-08:00

A made-up mind is dangerous;
It exaggerates the virtues of its ideas
And is blind to their adversities and hazards.
12.06.11

Ceremonials & Beliefs

2011-12-05T06:17:00.001-08:00

Were it not for ceremonials and rituals
Which keep alive the history of a people
None of us would have grown up shackled
With so many handed-down, ancestral beliefs.
12.05.11

Love & Perception

2011-12-04T07:28:00.000-08:00

We can only love
What we can perceive
With our thoughts or senses;
What remains un-perceived
Remains unloved.
12.04.11

Beauty & Passion

2011-12-03T06:48:00.000-08:00

Beauty
Carries no passions within itself
But it engenders passions in those who perceive it.
12.03.11

Enlightenment & Pleasure

2011-12-02T06:18:00.000-08:00

Enlightenment
Releases our pleasures
From the body’s penitentiary
Into the free expanses of our intellect.
12.02.11

Loyalty & Place

2011-12-01T06:29:00.001-08:00

If one dedicates
One’s loyalties
To where one grew up
Or to where one is living
Then one has missed his calling
To be equally loyal to all humanity.
12.01.11

Age & Periphery

2011-11-30T05:53:00.000-08:00

Old age
Is a migration
From center to periphery.
11.30.11

Pleasures & Joys

2011-11-29T03:42:00.001-08:00

Whereas pleasures and thrills
Are but ephemeral attributes of our bodies
Most joys are lasting attributes of our minds and souls.
11.29.11

Venting & Listening

2011-11-28T06:14:00.001-08:00

We vent for relief
And to convince ourselves
That what we are saying is true
And to seek support from our listener
Who’s cornered & pressured to hear
Only our side of the story.
11.28.11

Written & Read

2011-11-27T06:33:00.001-08:00

A lot has been written
But a little has been read
And far less has been understood.
11.27.11

Stubborn & Starved

2011-11-26T06:57:00.001-08:00

Every stubborn person
Is besieged within himself
Holding on to a starved intellect.
11.26.11

Giving & Loss

2011-11-25T06:19:00.001-08:00

Many have been impoverished by loss
But no one has been impoverished by giving.
11.25.11

Persecution & Oppression

2011-11-24T06:58:00.001-08:00

Persecution and oppression
Those ostentatious arms of power
Which seek to enforce its rule and hegemony
Proceed oblivious of the dangerous anger they foment
Among those never-forgetting, ever-growing generations
Who, like a malignant mole, multiply and ramify in the dark.
11.24.11

Victory & Failure

2011-11-23T06:07:00.001-08:00

Victory is treacherous
For it oft leads to complacency
Which could lead to failure;
Failure is motivating
For it oft leads to struggle
Which could lead to victory.
11.23.11

Coincidence & Prediction

2011-11-22T06:01:00.000-08:00

Believing in coincidence
Is wiser than believing in predictions
For coincidence often provides opportunities
While predictions often provide illusions and disappointments.
11.22.11

Talk & Worth

2011-11-21T05:53:00.001-08:00

Talk is cheap
But the right words
At the right time
Are priceless.
11.21.11

Shopping & Countries

2011-11-20T07:04:00.001-08:00

Shopping for countries
Is the modus operandi of the future;
An unenlightened country that rules with cruel suppression
Will lose its intelligentsia to other competing countries,
Which provide freedom, justice, and opportunity.
11.20.11

Opinion & Change

2011-11-19T06:25:00.001-08:00

A true intellectual
Like a true scientist
Is one who always searches
For evidence that runs contrary
To his own ideas and systems of belief
And who always sways his opinion
With the sway of new evidence.
11.19.11

Enlightenment & Violence

2011-11-18T06:33:00.001-08:00

Cultivating a sense of aesthetics
A love for harmony and beauty
Enhances enlightenment and tolerance
And discourages dissonance and violence.
11.18.11

Audiences & Pretense

2011-11-17T06:03:00.000-08:00

In the conduct of human affairs
The larger the audiences
The greater the political pretenses;
Politicians re-write history
To please the majority
At the expense of truth,
Which is never popular.
11.17.11

Minds & Disasters

2011-11-16T05:38:00.000-08:00

A deadly mind
Featuring a deadly personality
Is far worse than any deadly disease;
Its distorted judgment invites recurrent disasters.
11.16.11

Beginnings & Ends

2011-11-15T05:54:00.001-08:00

How ruthlessly does a bad end
Spoil a good life or a promising beginning;
Naught is well unless it ends well.
11.15.11

Herds & Individuals

2011-11-14T05:14:00.001-08:00

A consistent features of Homo sapiens
That distinguishes them from other animal herds
Is their instinctive lack of herd mentality;
Their tendency to behave as individuals
Causes them to get along poorly
Makes them hard to govern
Incites them to splinter into feuding factions
And renders conflict more natural than peaceful coexistence.
11.14.11

Majority & Truth

2011-11-13T07:18:00.001-08:00

Since Homo sapiens are delusional followers
Who will follow anyone’s promises
Of hope, wealth, and freedom
A large following or majority vote
Lends little legitimacy or credence
To ideologies, beliefs, or aggressions;
History is littered with happenings
Triggered by passionately espoused ideas
That ended up having disastrous consequences;
Truth is seldom popular but it ultimately prevails.
11.13.11

Primitiveness & Noise

2011-11-12T06:31:00.001-08:00

One can measure one’s own primitiveness
By measuring the quantity of noise one generates
Plus the quantity of noise one tolerates.
11.12.11

Live & Die

2011-11-11T08:02:00.001-08:00

There are so many ways to die
But only one way to live;
To live is to struggle.
11.11.11

Emotions & Instincts

2011-11-10T04:10:00.001-08:00

If we could perceive emotions as involuntary instincts
They would become much easier to comprehend
And to accept as programmed affects.
11.10.11

Power & Shame

2011-11-09T04:28:00.001-08:00

Power rules and justifies
Thereafter dies with all its lies
And then a new power does rise
To do the same and die the same;
Powers don’t learn nor can be wise
No body wins the power game
Homo sapiens are a shame.
11.09.11

Good Death & Poor Life

2011-11-08T04:39:00.001-08:00

Trading a good death
For a poor quality life
Is miserly cowardice.
11.08.11

Dreams & Realities

2011-11-07T04:49:00.001-08:00

Shattering dreams and hopes
Causes more profound grief
Than wrecking realities.
11.07.11

Internal & External

2011-11-06T05:03:00.001-08:00

Just as it is far easier
To look good on the outside
Than to be good on the inside
It is also easier for a person or nation
To take care of external problems
Than to manage internal ones.
11.06.11

Success & Trap

2011-11-05T08:47:00.001-07:00

Beware of initial success;
It’s a trap we all fall into.
11.05.11

Procrastination & Failure

2011-11-04T08:45:00.001-07:00

Procrastination
Invites failure.
11.04.11

God & Bankruptcy

2011-11-03T03:47:00.001-07:00

Nations, ideologies, and groups
Who invoke their Gods to justify
Committing cruelty and injustice
Should all file spiritual bankruptcy.
11.03.11

Self Destructiveness & Choices

2011-11-02T04:25:00.000-07:00

Human nature is so self-destructively wired that
When it has options, it chooses to side with
Beliefs and delusions over reality
Appearances over substance
Pretense over truthfulness
Language over meaning
Sloth over endeavor
Quantity over quality
And beauty over intellect.
11.02.11

Class & Character

2011-11-01T04:13:00.001-07:00

Class is defined by character
Rather than by any other attribute;
Kind, compassionate, courteous, giving
Humble, brave, moderate, and tolerant
Are the eight pillars of a humane aristocrat.
11.01.11

Insults & Self Worth

2011-10-31T03:42:00.001-07:00

To become un-insultable
Is to become fortified
With the confidence of
Impenetrable self worth.
10.31.11

Frogetfulness & Attention

2011-10-30T04:14:00.000-07:00

We only forget
What does not occupy our attention.
10.30.11

Joy & Relish

2011-10-29T07:46:00.001-07:00

The inability to enjoy
What someone you love enjoys
Invites distance and tempers the relationship;
For love to remain aflame
Lovers must learn to relish each other’s joys.
10.29.11

Teresness & Substance

2011-10-28T05:45:00.000-07:00

Beware—
Too many words
Dilute the substance.
10.28.11

Wine & Feelings

2011-10-27T04:47:00.000-07:00

There are two reasons
For good wine to taste bad—
Because one’s company is bad
Or because one feels bad.
10.27.11

Can & Should

2011-10-25T00:05:00.001-07:00

‘Nothing can be done’
Should not be interpreted to mean
That nothing should be done.
10.26.11

Reading & Writing

2011-10-24T23:39:00.000-07:00

Reading is promenading within another’s imagination;
Writing is taking a dive into one’s own soul.
10.25.11

Society & Pretense

2011-10-23T14:07:00.001-07:00

Pretense is the web that snares society
And the more complex the society
The greater are its pretenses.
Being true to one’s self brings peace
And gaining peace is predicated upon
Having less to do with society’s pretenses.
Perhaps, that is why
It is harder to be true to one’s self
When one lives in a complex society.
10.24.11

Atavisms & Dogmas

2011-10-23T00:15:00.001-07:00

We either think with reason or with instincts;
Instincts imprison us while reason sets us free.
Only the brave dare jettison their atavistic chains
And dare question ancestral beliefs and dogmas;
If you want the beast to froth and roar
Ask why belief should sensor thought.
10.23.11

Efficiency & Success

2011-10-21T09:05:00.001-07:00

Efficiency subsumes knowledge, effort,
Intelligence, hunger, passion, faith,
And health, both mental and physical;
It is the meter of human productivity
And success is its well-begotten child.
10.22.11

Power & Shame

2011-10-21T09:04:00.000-07:00

Power rules and justifies
And then it dies with all its lies
Then a new power does rise
To do the same and die the same;
Powers cannot ever be wise
No one wins the power game
Homo sapiens are a shame.
10.21.11

Enhancement & Transparency

2011-10-21T09:03:00.001-07:00

We use everything at our disposal
To enhance our personal positions
Unaware of our transparency.
10.20.11

Avoidance & Best

2011-10-18T22:10:00.001-07:00

To be the best one can be
Is to apply one’s efforts
To maximum tolerance.
To be the most comfortable
Undisturbed, and at peace
Consumes avoidance effort
And stifles our best.
10.19.11

Gratitude & Humility

2011-10-17T23:49:00.001-07:00

Those who get angry
At having gotten old
Would have gotten angrier
At having died young
Because they lack both
Humility and gratitude.
10.18.11

Avoidance & Enlightenment

2011-10-16T23:10:00.000-07:00

Just as some people
Drown their spirits in alcohol
To avoid serious thinking and self examination
So do many others
Narcotize their minds with reading
To avoid radical change and self-enlightenment.
10.17.11

Beauty & Love

2011-10-16T09:44:00.000-07:00

There is no beauty without love;
One must love something about
Whatever one finds beautiful.
10.16.11

Worth & Self

2011-10-16T09:39:00.000-07:00

Self worth
That does not arise
From within the self
Is worthless.
10.15.11

Excess & Nature

2011-10-13T00:03:00.000-07:00

Were it not for the desire of excess
That insatiable black hole in human nature
Moderation and peace would have been possible.
10.14.11

Power & Decay

2011-10-12T23:58:00.000-07:00

The military powers of nations
Seem to grow at the expense
Of their internal decay.
10.13.11

Ethics & Nations

2011-10-12T23:57:00.001-07:00

To bypass ethical standards
All that individuals have to do
Is think like nations.
10.12.11

Information & Knowledge

2011-10-10T12:42:00.001-07:00

The illusion that we can know the real persons
From what we hear and read about them
Fuels curiosity and inflames gossip
And also betrays truth.
10.11.11

Age & Speed

2011-10-10T12:41:00.001-07:00

The older we get, the faster we age
And the more each day depletes
Our dwindling life reserves.
10.10.11