Is god willing to prevent evil but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. If he able but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is god both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him god?
Reading of the Meditations
January 17th, 2008
Inspired by the LibriVox reading of the Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (Translated by George Long) I have decided to read the Gregory Hays translation, which I find to be superior.
Book 1 “Debts and Lessons” – 16:52
[mp3@128kbps - 15.45MB]
Book 2 “Among the Quadi” – 14:45
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Book 3 “In Carnuntum” – 17:29
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Book 4 – 26:42
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Book 5 – 26:28
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Book 6 – 26:59
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Book 7 – 26:28
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Book 8 – 28:25
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Book 9 – 25:22
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Book 10 – 26:47
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Book 11 – 23:36
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Book 12 – 20:26
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Also available as one large download (246.80MB).
Favorite Poets
January 10th, 2008
Something worth dying for
January 10th, 2008
To ride abroad redressing human wrongs,
To speak no slander, no, nor listen to it,
To honor his own word as if his god’s,
To lead sweet lives in purest chastity,
To love one maiden only, cleave to her,
And worship her by years of noble deeds….
Porcelain hope…
Why do you always break on me?
(It all makes no sense to me)
Porcelain hope…
Why do you always break on me?
Porcelain hope…
You’re not much, but you’re all I got
Porcelain hope…
You’re not much, but you’re all I got
It is to strange thing to grow up without a mirror in your room, as I have. Since I was not able to vainly observe my body on a frequent basis I believe I became naturally detached from physicality. Life must have been fundamentally different for the ancients, considering only the wealthy had access to mirrors and even then, they were simple works of reflective metal, not like the refined glass mirrors we know today.
It is a strange experience to see my full body in a mirror and the immediate reaction is disgust followed by a peculiar sort of amusement. Much like the ugly Socrates I find myself with the body of a Silenus and it comes as a surprise, for I have never had a mirror in my room, my own exposure to mirrors coming from a small bathroom one, which only reveals the upper chest and face. “A life without mirrors” seems an absurd notion to any contemporary westerner but looking back on it, the number of times I have seen myself in full can be counted on two hands.
This has had, I think, a profound impact on my psychology, as I have always disregarded matters of appearance as superfluous at best, finding actions and thoughts to be much more worthy disciplines to master.
Someone asked me “who i’d like to meet”
January 2nd, 2008
Alas, my lantern has run out of oil.
Those who speak and then act on their words.
Those who believe in what they profess to believe and do not pretend to know things which they do not.
Those who value conviction, virtue, honor, integrity, passion and principled action
Those who desire less and take comfort in simple pleasures; those who prefer the companionship of honest friends to displays of decadent and self-indulgent excess
Those who value uncompromising sobriety, steadiness of temper and with it: reasoned wisdom
Those who feel an affinity for temperance, prudence, justice and courage
Those who love knowledge and learn for the sake of learning, not to get a degree, not to pass a test, not to become an “informed consumer”
Those who value intelligence, brutally honest conversation and the rejection of things which are irrational
Those who love purely, truly and sincerely
Those with something to die for and duties to live for
Those who do not speak unless there is something to say
Those who crush injustice when they see it and do not tolerate slander, degeneration or depravity, who do not pull friends down but raise them up to their full potential
Those who feel sick to their stomach when they hear about how so-and-so seduced and then abandoned/abused so-and-so, those who feel inspired to be ever the more magnanimous, just, charitable and loving after hearing it
Those who feel a flame burning deep inside
Those who understand where these words come from