Quotes etc.

Variety of mere nothings gives more pleasure than uniformity of something.

-- Jean Paul Richter

Funny, according to ACIM, the one above is exactly wrong. If taken in a metaphysical way, of course.

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I take it to be a principle rule of life, not to be too much addicted to any one thing.

 -- Terrance

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Article on good people and "bad people". 

On being married, and prioritising one's life

“He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: but he that is married careth for the things of the world, how he may please his wife.”
- 1 Corinthians 7:32

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Innit so? It is the very rare spouse who will not expect him/her, the relationship, and the family to be the most important things in your life. Way, way the most important things.
And it's so ingrained in this world. People always say it in interviews: "the most important thing in my life is my family". I remember when I heard a A-list actor say it some years ago, I thought: "oh yeah? Well, you're a multi-millionaire, so how come you keep making all those movies instead of just staying home with your family?"

But the fact of course is that having a family is a great responsibility, and very, very few of us has the power and resources to have something else which is as important, or more. So I think that people who have such a thing, whether it be art, religion, spirituality, rock collecting, whatnot, should consider whether to start a family or even a relationship is the smartest thing to do? If it's really necessary? Or just a "supposed-to-do" which is build into our collective mind?

I've lost count of the number of very talented artists I know who got into a serious relationship or got married or kids, and after that, their creative output just dropped to near zero. So I think that one should consider that seriously.

I know, it's not politically correct to say this. Because contributing to the gene pool and making little workers for the factories of the future is the ego's most holy goal and obligation! But I think that spirituality (in the broadest sense) is way more important than that, by definition. What is higher or more important than our Source/God?

On the ethics of using force

True power consists in the mastery of oneself.
-- Loren Eiseley


I think there's a lot of truth in this.
And that's why I'm still a bit shocked, having read the Steve Jobs biography, about how consistently and intensely rude the man was. He clearly had a lot of power, but when he completely fails to control his own temper and continues to do it, to me that is a failing of monumental size.

He clearly did not consider it important. But to me, verbal abuse can be as damaging as physical abuse. And doing it to adults is not all that different from doing it to a child. And I really doubt that Steve would have tolerated anybody whipping a child. There's a difference in scale, is all.
There can be the rare occurrence where harsh words or even violence is necessary, if the receiver really don't understand proper communication (perhaps temporarily), and/or there's an emergency. But these situations are very rare for us living in civilized countries.