Tag Archives: Philosophy

Subliminal toast….

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Ffolkes,
It seems that my computer has developed some idiosyncrasies. I usually don’t turn it off very much, as I run a program that crunches data for a couple of cloud computing projects, one from UC Berkeley called SETI@home, and one from the American Physical Society called Einstein@home. But I decided to give the computer a break a couple nights here recently, and now it seems to want to find little things to do that annoy me. This morning my word-processing, database, and project program, Open Office Suite, wouldn’t open from the taskbar button; I had to work around it by using an already created document to open a new doc. Then Firefox, my internet browser, wanted to update itself for the sixth time. Just goes to show that our inanimate objects tend to take on human characteristics the more we use them. As I spend probably more than 10 hours a day working on this little machine, it has no doubt taken on some of my curmudgeonly traits. Ah well, as long as there is a work-around…..c’est la vie!
Today I have gathered a group of Pearls from some of history’s finest minds. Some were included simply for the beauty of the writing, others for the power of the ideas being presented. All are worth reading and contemplating, and should provide everyone with a good feeling or three with which to fortify their attitude for the day. If not, well, I’d have to say you really aren’t trying hard enough…..enjoy!

“Nature, whose sweet rains fall of just and unjust alike, will have clefts in the rocks where I may hide, and secret valleys in whose silence I may weep undetected. She will hang the night with stars so that I may walk abroad in the darkness without stumbling, and send the wind over my footprints so that none may track me to my hurt: she will cleanse me in great waters, and with bitter herbs make me whole.” — Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) — “De Profundis”

“When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty.” — George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), “Caesar and Cleopatra”, Act III

“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.” — Thomas Jefferson to A. Stuart, 1791

“Moral certainty is always a sign of cultural inferiority. The more uncivilized the man, the surer he is that he knows precisely what is right and what is wrong. All human progress, even in morals, has been the work of men who have doubted the current moral values, not of men who have whooped them up and tried to enforce them. The truly civilized man is always skeptical and tolerant, in this field as in all others. His culture is based on “I am not too sure.” — H.L. Mencken

The other shape,
If shape it might be call’d that shape had none
Distinguishable in member, joint, or limb;
Or substance might be call’d that shadow seem’d,
For each seem’d either,–black it stood as night,
Fierce as ten furies, terrible as hell,
And shook a dreadful dart; what seem’d his head
The likeness of a kingly crown had on.
Satan was now at hand.
— John Milton (1608-1674)
— Paradise Lost, Book ii, Line 666

“A wretched soul, bruised with adversity.” — William Shakespeare (1564-1616), The Comedy of Errors — Act ii, Sc. 1

I love these lines, “black as night it stood, fierce as ten furies, terrible as hell, and shook a dreadful dart!” And good old Will, he must have spent some time on the streets, or at least in a state of poverty, to be able to describe so perfectly in one line how it feels at the end of the day…”bruised with adversity.” Bruised indeed….. y’all take care out there….

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.

gigoid

Dozer

Kowabunga!

Bemused and befuddled….

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Ffolkes,
In all the literature I’ve read over the years, a lot of different authors have painted a picture of the life of those living in poverty. The intent of these pictures is to create in the reader an empathy for the plight of the economically challenged (this phrase, while politically correct, bears no real resemblance to the actuality of being poor, and as such, is inherently evil.  It doesn’t describe the reality; it puts another barrier between the real world and the meaning of the written word. This makes it easy to deny the reality, removing any true connection to the feelings involved….). But the empathy created is tempered by what is not painted into the picture. For the last nine months or so, I’ve been introduced to the life of the under-funded, and can state unequivocally that two important pieces of the experience of being poor in this country are missing from the usual descriptions.

It has been said that a hungry man is never bored; I can tell you from first-hand knowledge that this is true. Not knowing where the next meal is coming from keeps the mind focused on the search for food/money, and creates a state wherein one cannot afford to spend time on the luxury of boredom. What is missing here are the feelings that accompany that focused state, to wit: a constant, low-grade fear, always present in the background, causing the stomach to jump, the heart to beat faster, and the mind to spend precious energy to keep the fear at bay. This fear increases the urgency of everything; having to constantly turn the mind to finding the means to acquire money/food adds a flavor of desperation to every act, and every perception. Former activities that brought relaxation are no longer sought out, there’s no time for them. Never relaxing has a cumulative effect, and the cycle spins faster and faster, contributing even more anxiety to the system. I often feel as if I’m one of those little hamsters on a spinning wheel, a wheel that has no way to stop, and no way to get off…..


The other part that most descriptions of the state of poverty seldom mention is the sense of bone-deep humiliation that goes along with having to ask for help or charity. I can say without hesitation that this is perhaps the worst part of having to struggle to get by, probably because all my life I have been fairly successful, at least to the extent that money and food were not primary issues. Having to ask for a loan from a friend or relative is possibly the most embarrassing and humiliating experience that I have ever had. Just sitting here writing about it has me tearing up; one of the more unwelcome side effects of post-traumatic stress syndrome is how powerful emotions can surface at the slightest provocation, causing even more embarrassment, and making competent, effective action even more difficult to carry out. Self-confidence is not abetted by feeling humiliated, and self-respect becomes non-existent.


The only way I have found to lessen the despair and fear is to try to remember that things could be worse. Difficult as it may be, and I assure you it is, finding positive notes in the song of life currently being played always helps lessen the sense of dread that is my constant companion. Diving for, and reading, pearls of virtual wisdom helps too; contact with better minds than my own is uplifting, if only for the sense of hope that can be kindled by reading something inspirational, or an idea beautifully expressed. True beauty heals merely by its touch…..I went diving for pearls yesterday, and found a lot of good quality stuff; here are a few of them……

“Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst.” — Thomas Paine

All nature is but art, unknown to thee;
All chance, direction, which thou canst not see;
All discord, harmony not understood;
All partial evil, universal good;
And spite of pride, in erring reason’s spite,
One truth is clear, Whatever is, is right.
— Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
— Essay on Man, Epistle i, Line 289

“The world has achieved brilliance without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.  We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living.  We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount.” — General Omar N. Bradley (1893-1981)
(And he ought to know….)

“Children today are tyrants.  They contradict their parents, gobble their food, and tyrannize their teachers.” — Socrates (470?-399 B.C.)

“I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.” — Frederick Douglass

Never be boastful; someone may come along who knew you as a child. — Chinese Proverb

An odd group, but mine own…..May you always walk in beauty…..y’all take care out there…..

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.
gigoid
Dozer

Kowabunga!

Standing in the corner of life….

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Ffolkes,
As he watched, alone, he could see the families walking through the park, children playing on the swings, dogs romping in the grass. He felt set apart, an unknown player in a play that everyone else knew by heart. It had always been thus, this feeling of standing outside the normal events of Life, only joining the stream of humanity for moments at a time. He had no friends, only acquaintances who entered his world only to leave again, passing as the proverbial ships in the night. There were times, such as now, when his distance from the rest of his species was lessened, and he felt he might yet find someone who would understand him, and accept his differences as valuable, worthy of respect. At those times, as if by magic, his phone would ring, and a voice at the other end would give him his next assignment, placing him firmly outside the circle of society. He might have chosen another life, but circumstance is as powerful as fate, and his had been sealed early in life, before he developed enough of a conscience to reject the course upon which he set his sights. He did what he did for good reason; he had chosen his path with eyes wide open. Fate, and circumstance, had guided him to where he stood today, and wishing it different would never make it so.
Well, that was a struggle! I never know what will pop out of my head in the morning, and today was no different. It sounds like the beginning of a very deep, very heavy story, and at this point I’m not certain at all that I will continue with it. I have the distinct impression that the protagonist is involved in some pretty shady activities out there on the edge of society. So I may or may not explore this one further; probably not, as I think I need to involve my mind in something a bit more cheery. There is enough in my life now that pushes me toward negativity; I don’t need to put myself there. That’s okay though, something else will pop up tomorrow, and I’ll try to guide it toward a more positive outcome…..today’s Pearls are another eclectic lot, so open your minds and get ready…..

If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life, your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars.

“Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
— H. L. Mencken (In my case, ‘at times’ translates to ‘daily’)

GIGO: Garbage in garbage out. (which explains my user name; gigoid, which I chose to remind myself of the proper mindset necessary when dealing with computers)

“A man once asked Diogenes what was the proper time for supper, and he made answer, “If you are a rich man, whenever you please; and if
you are a poor man, whenever you can.” — Diogenes Laertius (c. 200 AD) — Diogenes, vi

This is the way the world ends,
This is the way the world ends,
This is the way the world ends,
Not with a bang but with a whimper.
— T. S. Eliot, “The Hollow Men”

The truth you speak has no past and no future. It is, and that’s all it needs to be.

Did I say eclectic? There must be a word to describe what these are, but it fails to come to me, so eclectic will have to do. Y’all take care out there…..

—
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.
gigoid
Dozer

Kowabunga!