- think about it - - ProfilesArchive

About Me

"I live in my own place,
have never copied nobody even half,
and at any master who lacks the grace
to laugh at himself -- I laugh."
- Friedrich W. Nietzsche
"What a benefit if a rule could be given whereby the mind could at any moment east itself, & find the sun...
But the truest state of mind, rested in, becomes false. Thought is the manna which cannot be stored. It will be sour if kept, & tomorrow must be gathered anew. Perpetually must we East ourselves, or we get into irrecoverable error, starting from the plainest truth & keeping as we think the straightest road of logic. It is by magnifying God, that men become Pantheist; it is by piously personifying him, that they become idolaters."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Thinking is man's only basic virtue, from which all the others proceed. And his basic vice, the source of all his evils, is that nameless act which all of you practice, but struggle never to admit: the act of blanking out, the willful suspension of one's consciousness, the refusal to think -- not blindness but the refusal to see; not ignorance, but the refusal to know. It is the act of unfocusing your mind and inducing an inner fog to escape the responsibility of judgment -- on the unstated premise that a thing will not exist if only you refuse to identify it, that A will not be A so long as you do not pronounce the verdict 'It is.' Non-thinking is an act of annihilation, a wish to negate existence, an attempt to wipe out reality. But existence exists; reality is not to be wiped out, it will merely wipe out the wiper. By refusing to say 'It is,' you are refusing to say 'I am.' By suspending your judgment, you are negating your person. When a man declares: 'Who am I to know?' -- he is declaring: 'Who am I to live?'"
- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
"Religion is always an individual, personal thing. Every person must work out his own views of religion, and if he is sincere, God will not blame him, however it turns out...As I was born in a pastor's family and at one time prepared for the Christian ministry, my natural emotions were on the side of religion during the entire struggle rather than against it. In this conflict of emotions and understanding, I gradually arrived at a position where I had, for instance, definitely renounced the doctrine of redemption, a position which could most simply be described as that of a pagan. It was, and still is, a condition of belief concerning life and the universe in which I feel natural and at ease, without having to be at war with myself. The process came as naturally as the weaning of a child or the dropping of a ripe apple on the ground; and when the time came for the apple to drop, I would not interfere with its dropping. In Taoistic phraseology, this is but to live in the Tao, and in Western phraseology it is but being sincere with oneself and with the universe, according to one's lights. I believe no one can be natural and happy unless he is intellectually sincere with himself, and to be natural is to be in heaven. To me, being a pagan is just being natural."
- Lin Yutang, The Importance of Living
"On the question of racial discrimination....this further lesson: That until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned: That until there are no longer first-class and second class citizens of any nation; That until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes; That until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race; That until that day, the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but never attained; And until the ignoble and unhappy regimes that hold our brothers in Angola, in Mozambique and in South Africa in subhuman bondage have been toppled and destroyed; Until bigotry and prejudice and malicious and inhuman self-interest have been replaced by understanding and tolerance and good-will; Until all Africans stand and speak as free beings, equal in the eyes of all men, as they are in the eyes of Heaven; Until that day, the African continent will not know peace. We Africans will fight, if necessary, and we know that we shall win, as we are confident in the victory of good over evil."
- Haile Selassie, Address to the United Nations

My Interests

"And become bright again." - We, openhanded and rich in spirit, standing by the road like open wells with no intention to fend off anyone who feels like drawing from us- we unfortunately do not know how to defend ourselves where we want to: we have no way of preventing people from darkening us: the time in which we live throws into us what is most timebound; its dirty birds drop their filth into us; boys their gewgaws; and exhausted wanderers who come to us to rest, their little and large miseries. But we shall do what we have always done: whatever one casts into us, we take down into our depth- for we are deep, we do not forget- and become bright again.
- Friedrich W. Nietzsche

I'd like to meet:

I ally myself with the apostates, the heretics, the abolitionists of all times & in all places; find me among those laughing at naked emperors...

Music:

John Lennon -- "Working Class Hero"
Working Class Hero
..

Citizen Cope -- "Friendly Fire"

Ben Harper - "Fight Outta You"
BEN HARPER Fight Outta You
..

The Rolling Stones - "Saint of Me"
The Rolling Stones Saint Of Me
..

Television:

I watch very little TV but I did get hooked on "The Sopranos" & I was always a big fan of "Northern Exposure". I have no use for so called reality TV, I play video games instead.

Books:

"The Rebel" by Camus; "The Idiot" by Dostoyevsky; "Of Time & the River" by Wolfe; "Beyond Good & Evil" by Nietzsche; the poetry of William Blake & Charles Baudelaire; "Full House" by Gould; "The Way of Life" by Lao Tzu; "The Bible" & the "Other Bible"; "The God Delusion" by Dawkins; Currently reading:
"The World is Flat" by Friedman...
"Moby Dick" by Melville...
"Clan of the Cave Bear" by Auel...
"The Will to Power" by Nietzsche...

Stephen Jay Gould interview with Charlie Rose

Heroes:

My Blog

Philosopher Walks into a Bar

So a philosopher walks into a bar and orders a beer. He notices Jesus Christ and Friedrich Nietzsche sitting in a booth nearby, drinking wine and laughing together like a couple of giddy school ...
Posted by - think about it - on Sun, 04 May 2008 10:54:00 PST

Pointing at "Evil"...

Pointing at a thing & calling it evil does nothing, it accomplishes nothing.The pointing is a mere impotence.The question is always: "So what!?"Do you take your fist to the thing or turn yo...
Posted by - think about it - on Sat, 08 Mar 2008 08:29:00 PST

"The Voice" - by Charles Baudelaire

The Voice I grew up in the shadow of a big bookcase: a tall Babel, where verses, novels, histories, row upon row The immemorial ashes of Greek and Latin all Mingled and murmured. When I was...
Posted by - think about it - on Sun, 30 Sep 2007 10:42:00 PST

Retirement Speech for Kwabena Robert Falson

Following is a speech that I delivered in honor of my good friend Kwabena Robert Falson who retired from the company I work for this past Friday. Over the years he has been my boss or my boss's ...
Posted by - think about it - on Thu, 26 Jul 2007 07:28:00 PST

RACISM

When we talk about racism we tend to reckon only with the most blatant, obtrusive and, perhaps, violent expressions of it. We mislead ourselves into thinking that if certain words are not used ...
Posted by - think about it - on Tue, 05 Jun 2007 05:48:00 PST

POLITICS

I think I could be a Republican if they weren't in bed with the Christian Right.I think I could be a Democrat if they weren't in bed with the Labor Unions.On the other hand, I would feel intellectuall...
Posted by - think about it - on Sun, 13 May 2007 07:58:00 PST

Reflections on Seeing the DALAI LAMA

Reflections on a Visit to Madison, Wisconsin to see Tenzin Gyatso,His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama -- May 4, 2007It was a good day for the special occasion, partly cloudy, with just a few light sprink...
Posted by - think about it - on Sat, 12 May 2007 12:49:00 PST

THE GARDEN OF LOVE by William Blake

THE GARDEN OF LOVEI went to the Garden of Love,And saw what I never had seen:A Chapel was built in the midst,Where I used to play on the green.And the gates of this Chapel were shut,And "Thou shalt no...
Posted by - think about it - on Fri, 27 Apr 2007 08:54:00 PST

Stand Firm or You Gonna Feed Worm

I wish I could just post the actual song here. I'd like to make it my official profile song but Peter Tosh is sadly under represented on MySpace & I can't access the tune. Maybe my new...
Posted by - think about it - on Sat, 21 Apr 2007 06:08:00 PST

Class

It is essential that each of us learn to see ourselves as princes or princesses -- except not like little frogs waiting to be kissed, rather like warriors who first secure their liberty and then parta...
Posted by - think about it - on Fri, 20 Apr 2007 05:37:00 PST