Everyone post some favorite quotes!

[futuredaze]

I enjoyed this quote, from Mount Analogue:

 

“I am dead because I have no desire,
I have no desire because I think I possess,
I think I possess because I do not try to give;
Trying to give, I see that I have nothing,
Seeing that I have nothing, I try to give myself,
Trying to give myself, I see that I am nothing,
Seeing that I am nothing, I desire to become,
Desiring to become, I live.”
― René Daumal

Edited July 4, 2015 by futuredaze

[Marblehead]

It would have been easier to just live in the first place instead of getting all wrapped up in mental masturbation.

[futuredaze]

So you mean to say that creative writing has no value because we should "just live"?  That's pretty ironic you even responded to this post then, rather than "just living."  Why post on a message board in general?  Is that not the anti-thesis of "just living"?

 

Now, I am partially serious and partially joking with you now.  I hope you don't take this too seriously.

 

I enjoy this quote because it is a short summary of how ownership and empathy mentalities differ.  I can see how it might seem convoluted, but if you can get past your judgment of his prose I think you can at least appreciate that the underlying message celebrates giving, and is a commentary on how the illusion of ownership stems from not seeing reality clearly.

Edited July 5, 2015 by futuredaze

[Marblehead]

Well Futuredaze, I see I got your attention.  That's good, I suppose.

 

I think there is no need for me to defend the time I spend on internet forums.

 

No, I won't take your post too seriously or even to me as an individual as there are millions of people who post on internet forums.  It's a good way to exercise the brain juices.

 

Actually, the quote came off as being nihilistic to me.  That's why I commented to it.  But the last line was optimistic.

 

Ownership is not an illusion.  True, it is temporary but it is just as real as breathing.

[Geof Nanto]

My thoughts are not my self, but exactly like the things of the world; alive and dead. Just as I am not damaged by living in a partly chaotic world, so too I am not damaged if I live in my partly chaotic thought world. Thoughts are natural events that you do not possess, and whose whole meaning you only imperfectly recognise. Thoughts grow in me like a forest, populated by many different animals. But man is dominating in his thinking and therefore kills the pleasure of the forest and that of the wild animals.

 

C G Jung The Red Book

[futuredaze]

Well Futuredaze, I see I got your attention.  That's good, I suppose.

 

I think there is no need for me to defend the time I spend on internet forums.

 

No, I won't take your post too seriously or even to me as an individual as there are millions of people who post on internet forums.  It's a good way to exercise the brain juices.

 

Actually, the quote came off as being nihilistic to me.  That's why I commented to it.  But the last line was optimistic.

 

Ownership is not an illusion.  True, it is temporary but it is just as real as breathing.

 

I'm not sure about that last part.  Breathing is something that exists whether we believe in it or not.  Ownership is a real concept, that becomes a social & political reality because enough people believe in it.  If people stopped believing in ownership, it would change.  If we all stopped believing in breathing, we would not all stop breathing.

 

Even so, I wouldn't say ownership is 100% an illusion, though.  Even if it is rooted in belief and not necessarily something tangible, physical legal documents and stuff can exist stating details about ownership, etc.  That makes it more real, since there is a systematic enforcement of the idea, rooted in belief.  So ownership seems to be a function of the economic, social, and political system at place.  If we looked at suburban America vs. a hippie commune, they will have very different beliefs on ownership, although I think it is safe to say that everyone believes in it in some form.  Even the hippies who share everything and believe "we don't own anything man" will probably get upset if someone takes a favorite possession or food.  The difference is, some people think that ownership is a God-given truth, a fact of life, whereas other people (like myself) see it more as a social construct.

Edited July 6, 2015 by futuredaze

[Marblehead]

Hi Futuredaze,

 

Nice response.  And you are correct, breathing is a bit more instinctual than is ownership.  But still, When we look back into written history we see ownership to be the cause of nearly all conflicts between peoples.  I suggest that this goes further back than the beginning of written history.

 

But again I agree with you, breathing is instinctual and ownership is a mental concept.

 

Living is instinctual.  How we live is optional.  And that brings me back to the quote.

 

The first line is important.  It is a mental state, of course.  To live but yet have no desires would be, in my mind, equal to being dead.  How sad would it be to live an entire life in the dead zone?

[futuredaze]

Those are good points.  I can see how the quote is perceived as pretentious, or even contradictory.  At first I thought it was contradictory but then when I read it again it made sense. 

 

In my efforts to make sense of the world, I have broken down desires into three types.  There are desires that arise out of impulse -- sexual desires, desire to eat, desire to have shelter and warmth, desire to socialize, etc.  Some of these are absolutely essential to survival, some things are just beneficial to social functioning or reproduction, so they aren't quite as "necessary."  However, we do have impulses to socialize that are not only conditioned by culture.

 

The second type of desire involves pursuit of something for a greater purpose than one's individual survival/reproduction.  It is Tesla who wanted free energy for all.  It is all artists who want to share their vision with people to inspire them, even if it means they don't make money and eat less.  It is the Buddha after he realized that  his message could be shared, and rather than blissing out he chose the more challenging path of sharing his wisdom with others.

 

The third type of desire doesn't involve survival directly or creation/desire for a "higher purpose".  When the ego becomes a self-serving entity, it creates a narrative that wants to consume and consume but is never satisfied, like the hungry ghost.  Eating too much, being addicted to sex, wanting to own things and get lost in material goods, are types of these desires.  These are desires which might be rooted in the desire for survival, like eating food or acquiring goods to be a more appealing mate.  However, the cosmic irony of this one is that often these desires end up fucking people over, dying because of their obesity, disconnected from their materialism, etc.

 

The quote seems to imply that the 3rd type of desire I mentioned leads to an apathetic state.  The 2nd type of desire, however, is filled with passion and leads someone to "become" rather than to live a stagnant life of hedonistic pleasures.

Edited July 7, 2015 by futuredaze

[Marblehead]

Excellent!  I say that, of course, because I agree with you except that I use different words for your three types of desires.

 

Mine are:  Needs, Wants, and Desires.

 

Basic human needs:  these will vary and most include more than I do but my understanding is that our basic human needs are:  food, clothing, shelter, and security.

 

Our Wants are good because they inspire us to seek out, to be inspired to do more for our self and those we care about.

 

Desires will, in the most part mess us up.  Unattained desires will haunt us day and night.  They will never allow us peace and contentment.

 

But, all things aside, the quote is good as it caused you to think.  It caused me to think and make comment.  We wouldn't have had this conversation had you not posted it.

Edited July 7, 2015 by Marblehead

[blue eyed snake]

rumi again...

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

"Your funhole's gonna land you in yer gravehole!"
~Rodney

"No more GunFu! It's time for- SUPER KING SMASH MASTA KNUCKLES MC JUNK PUNCH! and his twin bro... LUCY..."
"which is totally a girl's name so he grew up even meaner than his bro... earning him the nickname: THE WONDEROUS UNCLE THUNDER KNUCKLE MILLIONS KILL-POWER!"
~Rodney

"Impossible! He crushed the unstoppable juggernut and Jhonny scrotum seed!! EVEN THE SLANT EYED SERPENTINE CYCLOPS, EMPEROR WANG!"
~Rodney


Ala Raven's Dojo

Edited July 10, 2015 by Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan

[blue eyed snake]

A woman’s highest calling

is to lead a man

to his soul so as to

unite him with Source

 

A man’s highest calling

is to protect woman

so she is free to walk

the earth unharmed.

 

cherokee proverb

Edited July 16, 2015 by blue eyed snake

[Wells]

.

Edited May 10, 2016 by Wells

[Marblehead]

Well, sure, one person agrees with you.  That means that there is the potential that over 7 billion people disagree with you.

 

I can't imagine people who imagine things that are naturally (physically) impossible to actually be real.  Now, speak about dumb - that is dumb.

[ThisLife]

"You know what truth is? ... It's some crazy thing my neighbour believes. If I want to make friends with him, I ask him what he believes. He tells me, and I say, "Yeah, yeah - ain't it the truth?"
 

                                                                                                                                Kurt Vonnegut

[zerostao]

[Taomeow]

The ignorance of youth is understandable. In older age, it’s unforgivable.

 

--Oliver Stone

[canacan]

Wait a minute. I'm the leader. I decide what it was.

[pause]

It was a little ol' cricket bug.

 

Napoleon (The Aristocats)

Edited September 10, 2015 by canacan

[DreamBliss]

"I believe looking reality straight in the eye and denying it."

- Garrison Keillor

 

Also

 

"Although the mind resists it, the fact is that like me, you have a choice between having the life you want or the reasons why you can't"

- Alberto Villoldo (Courageous Dreaming)

Edited September 16, 2015 by DreamBliss

[Taomeow]

If I am too afraid to use my powers, I don't deserve them.  -- Hiro Nakamura

[Rocky Lionmouth]

"Tomorrow has been canceled due to lack of interest."

- sign by unknown announcing the cancellation of the next scheduled performance at a local concert hall.

Edited September 22, 2015 by Rocky Lionmouth

[canacan]

Tigger:

Hello, Pooh! I'm Tigger!

T-I, double "guh," "err." That spells "Tigger."

 

Winnie the Pooh:

Yeah, I know.

You've bounced me before.

 

Tigger:

I did?

Oh, yeah! I "recoggonize" you. You're the one that's stuffed with fluff.

 

Winnie the Pooh:

Yeah. And you're sitting on it.

 

Tigger:

Yeah. And it's comfy, too!

Edited September 23, 2015 by canacan

[canacan]

Shu and Hu discussed how they could repay his kindness. "All men," they said, "have seven openings so they can see, hear, eat, and breathe. But Hun-tun alone doesn't have any. Let's try boring him some!" Every day they bored another hole, and on the seventh day Hun-tun died.

 

Zhuang Zi (translation by B. Watson)

Edited September 23, 2015 by canacan

[Karl]

The power to control language offers far better prizes than taking away people’s provinces or lands or grinding them down in exploitation. The empires of the future are the empires of the mind”

 

– Winston Churchill

[Geof Nanto]

“The will needs obstacles in order to exercise its power; when it is never thwarted, when no effort is needed to achieve one’s desires, because one has placed one’s desires only in the things that can be obtained by stretching out one’s hand, the will grows impotent. If you walk on a level all the time the muscles you need to climb a mountain will entropy.”

 

(from The Lotus Eater by W Somerset Maugham)