#philosophy

Every man knows that he will die: and nobody believes it. On that paradox stand not only a host of religions but the entity of a sane being. ↗

— John Myers Myers

#religion

Reverence the highest, have patience with the lowest. Let this day's performance of the meanest duty be thy religion. Are the stars too distant, pick up the pebble that lies at thy feet, and from it learn the all. ↗

— Margaret Fuller

#religion

we are all alone, born alone, die alone, and — in spite of true romance magazines — we shall all someday look back on our lives and see that, in spite of our company, we were alone the whole way. i do not say lonely — at least, not all the time — but essentially, and finally, alone. this is what makes your self-respect so important, and i don’t see how you can respect yourself if you must look in the hearts and minds of others for your happiness ↗

— William S Burroughs

#humans #people #philosophy #respect

On the one hand, all truth is relative; on the other hand, postmodernism tells it like it really is. On the one hand, all cultures are equally deserving of respect; on the other, Western culture is uniquely destructive and bad. Values are subjective--but sexism and racism are really evil. Technology is bad and destructive--and it is unfair that some people have more technology than others. Tolerance is good and dominance is bad--but when postmodernists come to power, political correctness follows. ↗

— Stephen Hicks

#respect

There is nothing more soul destroying than respectable selfishness ↗

— Stan Almendro

#respect

(When asked what he thought of Western civilization): 'I think it would be a good idea. ↗

— Mahatma Gandhi

#eastern-civilization #eastern-philosophy #society #western-civilization #western-philosophy

If anyone on the verge of action should judge himself according to the outcome, he would never begin. ↗

— Søren Kierkegaard

#action

...an optimistic mind-set finds dozens of possible solutions for every problem that the pessimist regards as incurable. ↗

— Robert Anton Wilson

#philosophy #problems

Most men appear never to have considered what a house is, and are actually though needlessly poor all their lives because they think that they must have such a one as their neighbors have. As if one were to wear any sort of coat which the tailor might cut out for him, or gradually leaving off palm-leaf hat or cap of woodchuck skin, complain of hard times because he could not afford to buy him a crown! It is possible to invent a house still more convenient and luxurious than we have, which yet all would admit that man could not afford to pay for. Shall we always study to obtain more of these things, and not sometimes be content with less? ↗

— Henry David Thoreau

#men

The architect represents neither a Dionysian nor an Apollinian condition: here it is the mighty act of will, the will which moves mountains, the intoxication of the strong will, which demands artistic expression. The most powerful men have always inspired the architects; the architect has always been influenced by power. ↗

— Friedrich Nietzsche

#inspirational