Crippled Bastards
The inability to look at virtuous qualities from all angles leads people to accept these crippled bastards as their friends, or even as their rulers.
A Victory for Themocracy
I wasn’t going to vote. The right to vote comes with the right to not vote, too. I was sufficiently disenchanted by both sides to be reluctant to strike in favour of either. In a logical world, if enough people refuse to accept either side of a debate, it says far more about the quality … Continue reading
The Man Who Laughs: Speech
Taken from Chapter VII: Storms of Men are Worse than Storms of Oceans Book (in English) freely available at: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/12587/12587-h/12587-h.htm#CH85 The fate of Gwynplaine does not permit him to oversee the fulfilment of his promises and prophecies, but much of what he says rings true – to me at least – today. Methinks the House of … Continue reading
We
Zamyatin, Y. (2007). We. (N. Randall, Trans.) London: Vintage. (Original work published 1920) The Barbarian and the Barometer The barbarian notices that every time the barometer pointed to rain, it rained. One day, the barbarian wanted rain, and so he tapped out just enough mercury to point the needle to “rain”. You may laugh, … Continue reading
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Guanzhong, L., (2003). Three Kingdoms, volume 1. (M. Roberts trans.). Beijing: Foreign Languages Press. (Original work published c. 1321) “A raging cauldron is best cooled by removing the fuel. Lancing a pustule, though painful, is preferable to harbouring the infection.” p61 “The wise bird chooses its branch, the wise servant its master” p77 Cao … Continue reading
La Tulipe Noire
Dumas, A. (1968). La Tulipe Noire. Genève: Edito-Service “Il est assez rare qu’au moment donné, il se trouve là, sous la main de Dieu, un grand homme pour exécuter une grande action, et voila pourquoi, lorsque arrive par hasard cette combination providentielle, l’histoire enregistre à l’instant même le nom de cet homme élu, et le … Continue reading
Everyone Communicates, Few Connect
Maxwell, J. C., (2010). Everyone Communicates, Few Connect. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson. “It’s not enough just to work hard. It’s not enough to do a great job. To be successful, you need to learn how to really communicate with others.” (p2) “Everything rises and falls on leadership.” (p4) “Ram it in-jam it in, Students’ … Continue reading
Demons
Dostoyevsky, F., (2008). Demons. Translated from the Russian, by R. A. Maguire. London: Penguin, (originally published in 1871). “Man is only unhappy because he doesn’t know he’s happy; that’s the only reason. That’s everything. Everything!” Kirillov, p263 “If you have the guillotine in the foreground and with such enthusiasm too, then it’s merely because … Continue reading
Finding Flow
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life. New York, NY: Basic Books. Religious holy books are important idea ‘repositories’ that should not be ignored in the search for truth – they contain that which mattered most to our ancestors. However, “The second plank on which this book is built is … Continue reading
Nature of Prejudice
Allport, G. W. (1954). The Nature of Prejudice. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. “Facts are one thing; the significance people place on them is something else.” p104 “Strictly speaking, therefore, every statement concerning a “group difference” (unless suitably qualified) is an exaggeration.” p104 “Right is what you have been taught. Conscience is only the voice … Continue reading
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