... Lost
in a
COVID
wild
er
ness of pain ... — JDM, 1967

“But at the bottom, the immanent philosopher sees in the entire universe only the deepest longing for absolute annihilation, and it is as if he clearly hears the call that permeates all spheres of heaven: Redemption! Redemption! Death to our life! and the comforting answer: you will all find annihilation and be redeemed!” - Philipp Mainländer

"I do not know how to teach philosophy without becoming a disturber of established religion." ~Benedict de Spinoza

“No future and no humanity, no communism and no anarchy is worthy of the sacrifice of my life. From the day that I discovered myself, I have considered myself as the supreme PURPOSE.” - Renzo Novatore

"Such would be the future's hopeless alternative: either the possibilities imposed by the axiomatic, or the impossible as a future void of its possibility. How does one become capable of action under these conditions? How could every struggle not be lost from the start? But the error perhaps lies precisely in thinking political action in terms of the future, even from a revolutionary point of view. Isn't it in the name of the future that the battles of nomadism or minorities are lost from the start?

In reality, the outcome of the struggle matters little, likewise its recuperation - that "disenchanted concept"; the important thing is the struggle itself, the forces it obliges us to muster, even if everything falls apart or goes bad later on. If there is a disenchanted concept, it is first of all that of the future. It is always in its name that we give up or betray a struggle ("think of your future"). To become capable of action, we must paradoxically give up the idea of the future. We must leap into another temporality and discover the new forces of time."

-David Lapoujade, Aberrant Movements

"... the important thing is the struggle itself, the forces it obliges us to muster ... "

-David Lapoujade, Aberrant Movements — StreetlightX

"Real generosity towards the future lies in giving all to the present." ~Albert Camus, Notebooks 1935-1945

“That’s the way life is. You feel like shit one day, and die the next.”

-A guy I recently drug tested at work.

“We return evil for evil, in which there is no sin, for it is necessary to pay a wicked man in his own coin.” - Chanakya, Arthashastra

Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced — James Baldwin

:fire:

"Love can mend your life
But love can break your heart
...
Seems I'm not alone at being alone"
~Gordon Sumner, 1979

Wacky conspiracies are as old as Alex Jones, and the QAnon thing has been around for many years. The problem is that it takes an attention span greater than the length of time it takes to say "night of the long knives" to actually get anywhere. Given that our attention spans are presently hacked to pieces, nonsense like QAnon and flat-earth have an easier time gaining traction...

...Why can't people just believe in normal stupid shit like ghosts, aliens, and religion? — VagabondSpectre

:clap: :100:

"A black GI stood by the door
(I never saw a black before)
He'll set me free before I die,
I thought, he must be the Messiah."

~Sonia Weitz, poet and Holocaust survivor liberated from a concentration camp by the all-Black 761st Battalion

But who will liberate the liberators? (BLAM)

(December 8, 2020)

"The children of the 21st century will be listening to the Beatles." ~Brian Epstein, interview with Larry Kane, 1964

xmas 2020 ...

"No one ever lacks a good reason for suicide."
~Cesare Pavese

xmas 2020 ...

"No one ever lacks a good reason for suicide."
~Cesare Pavese — 180 Proof

It takes strength of character to seek out a reason to live while the darkness of life bears down upon us.

new year, new fear
2021
We will Rise my friends, We Will Rise :sparkle:

“We want this government to work more than they want it to fail.” ~Rep. Conor Lamb (D-PA), January 6, 2021

:victory: :mask:

"No matter how omnipotent a monster may seem, once it is forgotten it ceases to exist altogether."
-Anastasia.

Everybody's talking
and no one says a word
Everybody's making love
and no one really cares
There's Nazis in the bathroom
just below the stairs ... — John Lennon

d e a t h _ g i v e s _ l i f e _ u r g e n c y _ w i t h o u t _ m e a n i n g, _ p e r s p e c t i v e _ w i t h o u t _ p u r p o s e, _ e c s t a c y _ w i t h o u t _ t r a n s c e n d e n c e _

– b.w.

"The history of research into the philosophy of language is full of men (who are rational and mortal animals), bachelors (who are unmarried adult males), and tigers (though it is not clear whether we should define them as feline mammals or big cats with a yellow coat and black stripes)."
-Umberto Eco, "Kant and the Platypus", p. 9

.
"What's a philosopher?" said Brutha.
"Someone who's bright enough to find a job with no heavy lifting," said a voice in his head.
"An infidel seeking the just fate he shall surely receive,' said Vorbis. "An inventor of fallacies. This cursed city attracts them like a dung heap attracts flies."
"Actually, it's the climate," said the voice of the tortoise. "Think about it. If you're inclined to leap out of your bath and run down the street every time you think you've got a bright idea, you don't want to do it somewhere cold. If you do do it somewhere cold, you die out. That's natural selection, that is. Ephebe's known for its philosophers. It's better than street theater."
"What, a lot of old men running around the streets with no clothes on?" said Brutha, under his breath, as they were marched onward.
"More or less. If you spend your whole time thinking about the universe, you tend to forget the less important bits of it. Like your pants. And ninety-nine out of a hundred ideas they come up with are totally useless."
"Why doesn't anyone lock them away safely, then? They don't sound much use to me," said Brutha.
"Because the hundredth idea," said Om, "is generally a humdinger."
-Terry Pratchett, "Small Gods'

childbirth is immoral but is beautiful art, some may prefer this lifestyle, but that should be a decision for the child to make primarily as it must live in unison with it's parents. — ghostlycutter

"What's a philosopher?" said Brutha.
"Someone who's bright enough to find a job with no heavy lifting," said a voice in his head. — Ying

that's why in ancient societies the aristocrats always had one or more long fingernails.

"Human activity has brought my kind to the brink of extinction, but I don’t blame them for it. They didn’t do it maliciously. They just weren’t paying attention."
~Ted Chiang

"If scientific analysis were conclusively to demonstrate certain claims in Buddhism to be false, then we must accept the findings of science and abandon those claims."
~Tenzin Gyatso, The 14th Dalai Lama

“An intelligent hell would be better than a stupid paradise.” ~Victor Hugo

Until the philosophy
which hold one race superior
and another
inferior
is finally
and permanently
discredited
and abandoned,
everywhere is war ...
Me seh war — Robert Nester Marley d. May 11, 1981

:fire:

https://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-57022757

You were insinuating that I was a waffle, which is clearly an insult.

Found in the forum wild, in reply to @Banno.

Glorious.

You were insinuating that I was a waffle, which is clearly an insult.

Found in the forum wild, in reply to Banno.

Glorious. — StreetlightX

Apropos the subject of waffles and this particular discussion, here is the Waffle House philosophy:

Waffle House's philosophy is to aim “to deliver a unique experience to our customers through delivering great food, friendly, attentive service, excellent price and a welcoming presence”.

"The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born; now is the time of monsters." — Antonio Gramsci

Nice line. And correct, we're living in quite unique times, all over the world...

“Tradition means that you’re able to be innovative and come up with new things, but at the same time you can speak to the things that existed before.” ~Wynton Marsalis

"There is no inevitable The Future, just as there is no inevitable Right Side of History ... But there are consequences of actions." ~ Margaret Atwood

"Paths are made by walking." ~Franz Kafka

"Fate is shaped half by expectation, half by inattention." ~Amy Tan

(Like god or love) Freedom is a verb almost always mistaken for a noun. ~180 Proof

I never trust the airlines from those countries where the pilots believe in the afterlife. You are safer when they don't.

- Muriel Spark