To be in possession of an absolute truth is to have a net of familiarity spread over the whole of eternity. There are no surprises and no unknowns.
. . . (Gertrude Stein) died firmly in character, having delivered from her hospital bed the last specimen and one of the most searching and comical specimens of Steinese. “What is the answer?” she inquired, and getting no answer, said laughing, “In that case, what is the question?”
We all have the power — at least for a moment — to shape our environment, and how wrong of us to ignore this privilege just because it is fleeting. We must accept the fact that nothing we create belongs to us forever and let the act of creation be its own reward.
We do not walk on our legs, but on our Will.
The most perplexing form of evil, and especially so for all idealists, is that kind of evil which comes out of our efforts to do good. Perhaps when we try to do good without love, we create evil.
Everyone takes the limits of his own vision for the limits of the world.
I . . . doubt that film can ever argue effectively against its own material: that a genuine anti-war film, say, can be made on the basis of even the ugliest battle scenes. . . . No matter what filmmakers intend, film always argues yes. People have been modeling their lives after films for years, but the medium is somehow unsuited to moral lessons, cautionary tales, or polemics of any kind. If you want to make a pacifist film, you must make an exemplary film about peaceful men.
A prophecy that comes true, especially a negative prophecy, is a prophecy that has failed. One doesn’t prophesy for the purpose of being accurate. A prophecy is an attempt to warn or to prepare people to make a change, and if they make that change, then what they’re preparing for just may not occur.
The epitome of the human realm is to be stuck in a huge traffic jam of discursive thought.
The intelligent man who is proud of his intelligence is like the condemned man who is proud of his large cell.
The man in whom Tao Acts without impediment Does not bother with his own interests And does not despise Others who do. He does not struggle to make money And does not make a virtue of poverty. He goes his way Without relying on others And does not pride himself On walking alone. While he does not follow the crowd He won’t complain of those who do. Rank and reward Make no appeal to him; Disgrace and shame Do not deter him. He is not always looking For right and wrong Always deciding “Yes” or “No.”
What am I doing at a level of consciousness where this is real?
