I was sixteen. I remember the sensation: to lay on the surf board supported by movement on moving water, paddling toward the horizon, past the break point, that point where the energy radiating under the surface, shoreward reaches a crest. At that point the wave begins to break, energy manifests as a collapsing liquid…
…modem pessimism, and a more ancient and stronger expression in the teaching of Buddha; but it is part of Christianity also, if more doubtfully and ambiguously so but not for that reason any less seductive. The whole pose of “man against the world,” of man as a “world-negating” principle, of man as the measure…
The lack of personality always takes its revenge: A weakened, thin, extinguished personality that denies itself is no longer fit for anything good –least of all for philosophy. “Selflessness” has no value either in heaven or on earth. All great problems demand great love, and of that only strong, round, secure spirits who have…
Good morning! Some snapshots of things related to us, — while we were sleeping… For a more complete rendering visit the NEW YORK TIMES. FRACTURED Screenwriters — who are unionized — have gone on strike in an attempt to use their collective leverage to avoid becoming Hollywood’s equivalent of adjunct professors. Today, only one…
Late to Starbucks today. Began my day by coming “out of retirement” to assist my son with a new client. I was reminded of the way of life, the day to day routine that was my normal for many years. Is anything ever truly behind us? I do not think so. We are marked…
What, if some day or night a demon were to steal after you into your loneliest loneliness and say to you: “This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more; and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain…
I admire the courage and wisdom of Socrates in everything he did, said, — and did not say. This mocking and enamored monster and pied piper of Athens, who made the most overweening youths tremble and sob, was not only the wisest chatterer of all time: he was equally great in silence. I wish…
Met with some friends via Zoom to discuss the function of “intention” in relation to moral judgments. We agreed that intent is slippery, an ambiguous aspect of deciding right action… The intent of another’s action is notoriously difficult to ascertain. Moreover introspection of one’s own intention reveals a complex, anything but pure motivation for…
Formerly, one wished to acquire fame and be spoken of. Now that is no longer enough because the market has grown too large; nothing less than screaming will do. As a consequence, even good voices scream till they are hoarse, and the best goods are offered by cracked voices. Without the screaming of those…
We live in the age of cybernetics, of next-day Amazon delivery, of iphone instant communication anywhere in the world. The American way of life is idealized as the apex of 21st century freedom and affluence by many. Nietzsche, living in the late 19th century, as the industrial age broke like a wave transforming Europe,…
