#ali

Have a religion but don't let religion have you! ↗

— Janina Lea Dela Peña

#life-philosophy #reality #religion-meaning #religion-philosophy #religion

National boundaries are not evident when we view the Earth from space. Fanatical ethnic or religious or national chauvinisms are a little difficult to maintain when we see our planet as a fragile blue crescent fading to become an inconspicuous point of light against the bastion and citadel of the stars. ↗

— Carl Sagan

#astronomy #conceit #earth #folly #human-nature

I am grateful for the magic, mystery and majesty of nature – my loyal friend and companion – always there, welcoming and waiting for me to come; to be healed. ↗

— Tom North

#magic #mystery #nature #nature

At its most basic, the logic of 'meritocracy' is ironclad: putting the most qualified, best equipped people into the positions of greates responsibility and import...But my central contention is that our near-religious fidelity to the meritocratic model comes with huge costs. We overestimate the advantages of meritocracy and underappreciate its costs, because we don't think hard enough about the consequences of the inequality it produces. As Americans, we take it as a given that unequal levels of achievement are natural, even desirable. Sociologist Jermole Karabel, whose work looks at elite formation, once said he 'didnt think any advanced democracy is as obsessed with equality of opportunity or as relatively unconcerned with equality of condition' as the United States. This is our central problem. And my proposed solution for correcting the excesses of our extreme version of meritocracy is quite simple: make America more equal ↗

— Christopher L. Hayes

#injustice #meritocracy #equality

The nature of immortality is a mystery,' he says, speaking so softly that we have to lean closer to hear.' But everything I know of writing and reading tells me that this is true. I have felt it in these shelves and in others. ↗

— Robin Sloan

#reading #writing #nature

My spiritual high naturally dissipated. At some point you've got to come out of the clouds and live real life. Again, it's just like falling in love. The feeling of euphoria is only temporary. ↗

— Pattie Mallette

#justin-bieber #nowhere-but-up #pattie-mallette #realization #love

The role of capitalist ideology is not to make an explicit case for something in the way that propaganda does, but to conceal the fact that the operations of capital do not depend on any sort of subjectively assumed belief. It is impossible to conceive of fascism or Stalinism without propaganda - but capitalism can proceed perfectly well, in some ways better, without anyone making a case for it. ↗

— Mark Fisher

#capitalist-realism #ideology #nature #propaganda #nature

Now that science has helped us to overcome the awe of the unknown in nature, we are the slaves of social pressures of our own making. When called upon to act independently, we cry for patterns, systems, and authorities. If by enlightenment and intellectual progress we mean the freeing of man from superstitious belief in evil forces, in demons and fairies, in blind fate--in short, the emancipation from fear--then denunciation of what is currently called reason is the greatest service reason can render. ↗

— Max Horkheimer

#humanity #philosophy #progress #rationality #science

True spirituality will be reveled to you as soon as you become aware of how important you are to all, every single person you come across, every animal and every single situation is part of the spirituality you are seeking, every day is spirituality, every single word and action are spirituality, you are spirituality, we all are. Stop seeking something magical or super natural, true spirituality is experienced every day, in all the ordinary ways we live our lives. Awake now. ↗

— Martin Suarez

#nature

In its encounter with Nature, science invariably elicits a sense of reverence and awe. The very act of understanding is a celebration of joining, merging, even if on a very modest scale, with the magnificence of the Cosmos. And the cumulative worldwide build-up of knowledge over time converts science into something only a little short of a trans-national, trans-generational meta-mind. ↗

— Carl Sagan

#science #spirituality #nature