Month: July 2008

Never call yourself a philosopher, nor talk a great deal among the unlearned about theorems, but act conformably to them. Thus, at an entertainment, don’t talk how persons ought to eat, but eat as you ought. For remember that in this manner Socrates also universally avoided all ostentation. And when persons came to him and desired to be recommended by him to philosophers, he took and recommended them, so well did he bear being overlooked. So that if ever any talk should happen among the unlearned concerning philosophic theorems, be you, for the most part, silent. For there is great danger in immediately throwing out what you have not digested. And, if anyone tells you that you know nothing, and you are not nettled at it, then you may be sure that you have begun your business. For sheep don’t throw up the grass to show the shepherds how much they have eaten; but, inwardly digesting their food, they outwardly produce wool and milk. Thus, therefore, do you likewise not show theorems to the unlearned, but the actions produced by them after they have been digested.

A war is never undertaken by the ideal State, except in defense of its honor or its safety.

The man who backbites an absent friend, nay, who does not stand up for him when another blames him, the man who angles for bursts of laughter and for the repute of a wit, who can invent what he never saw, who cannot keep a secret — that man is black at heart: mark and avoid him.

The name of peace is sweet, and the thing itself is beneficial, but there is a great difference between peace and servitude. Peace is freedom in tranquillity, servitude is the worst of all evils, to be resisted not only by war, but even by death.

Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book. [LOL!]

Live as brave men; and if fortune is adverse, front its blows with brave hearts.

On the other hand, we denounce with righteous indignation and dislike men who are so beguiled and demoralized by the charms of pleasure of the moment, so blinded by desire, that they cannot foresee the pain and trouble that are bound to ensue; and equal blame belongs to those who fail in their duty through weakness of will, which is the same as saying through shrinking from toil and pain. These cases are perfectly simple and easy to distinguish. In a free hour, when our power of choice is untrammeled and when nothing prevents our being able to do what we like best, every pleasure is to be welcomed and every pain avoided. But in certain circumstances and owing to the claims of duty or the obligations of business it will frequently occur that pleasures have to be repudiated and annoyances accepted. The wise man therefore always holds in these matters to this principle of selection: he rejects pleasures to secure other greater pleasures, or else he endures pains to avoid worse pains.

The Six Mistakes of Man

1. The illusion that personal gain is made up of crushing others.
2. The tendency to worry about things that cannot be changed or corrected.
3. Insisting that a thing is impossible because we cannot accomplish it.
4. Refusing to set aside trivial preferences.
5. Neglecting development and refinement of the mind, and not acquiring the habit of reading and study.
6. Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do.

and this is what shall come to pass.
a new precept for the world to adopt.
and this is what the children shall learn…

prepare for the lowest standard.
rough diamonds in the palms of fools
unable to give the crucial gift of reason.

the unwise teaching wisdom.
the absurd defining priority.
fools, unable to give the crucial gift of reason.

what more can be expected of a child,
being a product of the stark worst –
its fathers blood.

censure rightly;
make no mistake.
the ascendants,
they are veritably criminal.

fare thee well
down the random path of chance.

godspeed.

set sail,
against the wind,
under the misguiding light of faulty beacons.

set sail,
against the wind,
with vices for virtues,
dishonor for ethics,
and excess for etiquette,
as examples –

such sorry examples.

and what of the children…

ignorant of it’s weight.
blind to it’s worth.

something is terribly amiss
when the beauty and the miracle of new life
is nothing but a burden.

this burden is a life
this burden is a child.

men without dedication
speaking of truth and loyalty.
women without conviction
teaching respect and compassion.

no.

and what of the children…