#ego

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things, the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth a war, is much worse. When a people are used as mere human instruments for firing cannon or thrusting bayonets, in the service and for the selfish purposes of a master, such war degrades a people. A war to protect other human beings against tyrannical injustice; a war to give victory to their own ideas of right and good, and which is their own war, carried on for an honest purpose by their free choice, — is often the means of their regeneration. A man who has nothing which he is willing to fight for, nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. ↗

— John Stuart Mill

#pacifism #sacrifice #selfishness #war #men

oh God! what am I to do if I love nothing but fame and men's esteem? ↗

— Leo Tolstoy

#love

I have zero respect for knowledge, that’s what computers are for. Imagination is the kicker because imagination can extrapolate, create and solve, Knowledge is just facts and shit. Mostly irrelevant.” Kego O'Grady in The Navigator By Steve Merrick ↗

— Steve Merrick

#sci-fi #science-fiction #steve-merrick #stevesevilempire #the-navigator

Being aware is being aware of one's own mind and the games it plays on itself. ↗

— Robin Macnaughton

#ego #inspirational #mind #wisdom #inspirational

The overdressed traveler betrays more interest in being seen than in seeing, while the true traveler knows that the novel world about her serves as the most appropriate accessory. ↗

— Gregory Maguire

#inspirational #travel #wicked #inspirational

From human problems come human solutions, which in turn spawn inspiration, creativity, insight and enlightenment. Without life's problems, life would become stagnant, dull and boring. ↗

— Beth Johnson

#ego #energy #happiness #sacredness #self

On Jesus' rock, my life abounds; all other floors are slippery grounds. His love for me, is mercy band; any other love is sinking sand. ↗

— Israelmore Ayivor

#band #begotten-son #bible #christ #floor

An egocentric pessimist is a person who thinks he hasn't changed, but that other people are behaving worse than before. ↗

— Idries Shah

#egocentrism #pessimism #change

The real opposition is that between the ego-bound man, whose existence is structured by the principle of having, and the free man, who has overcome his egocentricity. ↗

— Erich Fromm

#freedom #materialism #poverty #freedom

We are addicted to our egotism, our likes and dislikes and prejudices, and depend upon them for our own sense of identity. ↗

— Karen Armstrong

#depend #dislikes #egotism #identity #likes