231–240 of 341 posts
by Alphonsus Rodriguez, S.J., 1609
as translated into English from the original Spanish by Joseph Rickaby, S.J., 1929
https://archive.org/details/PPCV-Manresa
I found it to be a mirror of my soul, in which I saw more clearly than ever before my many faults and areas for improvement; at the same time, it held out to me the prescriptions necessary for the cure... a work still in progress, to be sure.
Meditations, originally written by Marcus Aurelius, but translated many times over. More as an introduction to stoicism; choosing the translation that works best for you is ideal. Hays and Hicks translations are most often recommended but if you can peek inside the book to see what language resonates the best with you. Stoicism helped me build the ability to care about the things in my power to change, and not stress…
"To conclude, always observe how ephemeral and worthless human things are, and what was yesterday a speck of semen tomorrow will be a mummy or ashes. Pass then through this little space of time conformably to nature, and end your journey in content, just as an olive falls off when it is ripe, blessing nature who produced it and thanking the tree on which it grew."
It makes me appreciate everything so much more and I feel like a fool for worrying over little things.
Infinite Jest - it's just such an absurd book, and arguably way too long, but it's the funniest/saddest thing I've ever read. There are some passages that absolutely shook me. This section is one of my favorites, about things he learned in a halfway home: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/966304-if-by-the-virtue-of-...
Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl The book was written by a psychologist who survived the Holocaust camps. The paragraph that always sticks with me goes something like "for sure, the best amongst us never left the camps - they (the guards) would need to pick (kill) a dozen people, and the best wouldn't let it be their friends or family, even if it meant their own death."
"When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves."
"Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way."
This is also the reason why "Shawshank redemption" is my favorite movie. Very similar concepts.
Animal Liberation by Peter Singer. I read it over 20 years ago. I've been a vegetarian/vegan ever since. There were probably other things I read or saw that contributed to the decision, but that was, I think, the primary catalyst.
I turned vegetarian in the mid-nineties because my first girlfriend was vegetarian. It coincided with media focusing on unnecessarily long animal transports in the EU, and I quickly realized I didn't want to take any part in factory farming. My wife turned vegetarian after meeting me, and we're both vegan since 2007. I joke that vegetarianism and veganism is transferred from partner to partner. Both our kids have been vegan their whole lives.
I came in contact with Singer's ideas in articles, and was both put off by the utilitarian ideas as I couldn't see them coexist with ideas of inviolable human and animal rights, and also that he used mentally disabled children as an example of the absurdity of using mental capacity as a measure of whether you can be used to make food and clothes. I agree, of course, that you shouldn't use human children or animals, it was just that the examples and arguments didn't speak to me at all.
Do you remember what it was by Singer that spoke to you?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This looks kind of like logic if you squint, but is actually a logical fallacy. This issues is of course there are of course more than 3 options. If she had been deceived intentionally than none of the given three examples apply. Further, it assumes you can verify that she was 'telling lies' or 'insane' as an abstract property of her which is another mistake. That said, I can see why someone might find it a useful in…
Eh? If she was deceived (intentional or not) she is in fact telling the truth, since to her it is real. There aren't more than three option present, but you're more correct that you may not have enough information to deduct which option is a proper representation of the true fact. There's no real issue with the logic, outside of arguing that making a conclusive decision here is perhaps premature. That's situational t…
What someone observes, what someone thinks they observed, what they remember, what they say happened, and what actually happened are generally all different things.
The takeaway that's quickest to explain is that the best things in life are priceless. You might be surprised how few $ you can happily live on.
It helps you understand all mass movements from Trump-ism to Social Justice.