Author: phillip

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Tao Te Ching: A New English Version

Author: Lao Tzu, Trans. Stephen Mitchell
Rating: 10/10
Last Read: May 2017

Quick Summary:  Following What is Tao? by Alan Watts, I picked up the Tao Te Ching. The version I read was a newer translation by Stephen Mitchell. Mitchell focused on a poetic translation of the Tao Te Ching. He mentions that his translation strategy was to focus on direct translation where possible, and when not possible sticking to the spirit of Lao Tzu’s message. I’d say Mitchell was very successful, as he presented the wisdom of the Tao in an absolutely beautiful way. I thoroughly enjoyed this translation of the Tao Te Ching and look forward to revisiting it frequently.

I cannot summarize the words of the Tao Te Ching better than the document itself, so I leave you with my favorite passages.

My Highlights

Regarding Lao Tzu, from the introduction:

Like an Iroquois woodsman, he left no traces. All he left us is his book: the classic manual on the art of living, written in style of gemlike lucidity, radiant with humor and grace and largeheartedness and deep wisdom: one of the wonders of the world. –loc 179

But it’s clear from his teachings that he deeply cared about society, if society means the welfare of one’s fellow human beings; his book is, among other things, a treatise on the art of government, whether of a country or of a child. –loc 183

A note on the concept of wu wei:

A good athlete can enter a state of body-awareness in which the right stroke or the right movement happens by itself, effortlessly, without any interference of the conscious will. This is a paradigm for non-action: the purest and most effective form of action. The game plays the game; the poem writes the poem; we can’t tell the dancer from the dance. –loc 186

Continued notes from the introduction:

The Master has mastered Nature; not in the sense of conquering it, but of becoming it. In surrendering to the Tao, in giving up all concepts, judgments, and desires, her mind has grown naturally compassionate. She finds deep in her own experience the central truths of the art of living, which are paradoxical only on the surface: that the more truly solitary we are, the more compassionate we can be; the more we let go of what we love, the more present our love becomes; the clearer our insight into what is beyond good and evil, the more we can embody the good. –loc 198

Unencumbered by any concept of sin, the Master doesn’t see evil as a force to resist, but simply as an opaqueness, a state of self-absorption which is in disharmony with the universal process, so that, as with a dirty window, the light can’t shine through. This freedom from moral categories allows him his great compassion for the wicked and the selfish. –loc 203

Now we enter into the Tao itself

Free from desire, you realize the mystery. Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations. Yet mystery and manifestations arise from the same source. –loc 233

When people see some things as beautiful, other things become ugly. When people see some things as good, other things become bad. Being and non-being create each other. Difficult and easy support each other. Long and short define each other. High and low depend on each other. Before and after follow each other. –loc 240

Things arise and she lets them come; things disappear and she lets them go. She has but doesn’t possess, acts but doesn’t expect. When her work is done, she forgets it. That is why it lasts forever. –loc 247

The Master leads by emptying people’s minds and filling their cores, by weakening their ambition and toughening their resolve. –loc 255

The Tao is like a bellows: it is empty yet infinitely capable. The more you use it, the more it produces; the more you talk of it, the less you understand. –loc 271

The Master stays behind; that is why she is ahead. She is detached from all things; that is why she is one with them. Because she has let go of herself, she is perfectly fulfilled. –loc 284

In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don’t try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present. When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you. –loc 292

Care about people’s approval and you will be their prisoner. –loc 303

Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity. –loc 304

Can you love people and lead them without imposing your will? –loc 311

What does it mean that success is as dangerous as failure? Whether you go up the ladder or down it, your position is shaky. When you stand with your two feet on the ground, you will always keep your balance. –loc 336

What does it mean that hope is as hollow as fear? Hope and fear are both phantoms that arise from thinking of the self. When we don’t see the self as self, what do we have to fear? See the world as your self. Have faith in the way things are. Love the world as your self; then you can care for all things. –loc 340

If you don’t trust the people, you make them untrustworthy. –loc 388

The Master doesn’t talk, he acts. When his work is done, the people say, “Amazing: we did it, all by ourselves!” –loc 390

Throw away holiness and wisdom, and people will be a hundred times happier. Throw away morality and justice, and people will do the right thing. Throw away industry and profit, and there won’t be any thieves. If these three aren’t enough, just stay at the center of the circle and let all things take their course. –loc 401

Stop thinking, and end your problems. –loc 408

What difference between yes and no? What difference between success and failure? Must you value what others value, avoid what others avoid? How ridiculous! –loc 409

I am like an idiot, my mind is so empty. –loc 417

Express yourself completely, then keep quiet. Be like the forces of nature: when it blows, there is only wind; when it rains, there is only rain; when the clouds pass, the sun shines through. –loc 454

Open yourself to the Tao, then trust your natural responses; and everything will fall into place. –loc 463

He who stands on tiptoe doesn’t stand firm. He who rushes ahead doesn’t go far. He who tries to shine dims his own light. He who defines himself can’t know who he really is. –loc 467

He who clings to his work will create nothing that endures. If you want to accord with the Tao, just do your job, then let go. –loc 472

If you let yourself be blown to and fro, you lose touch with your root. –loc 495

A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving. A good artist lets his intuition lead him wherever it wants. A good scientist has freed himself of concepts and keeps his mind open to what is. –loc 499

What is a good man but a bad man’s teacher? What is a bad man but a good man’s job? If you don’t understand this, you will get lost, however intelligent you are. –loc 506

There is a time for being ahead, a time for being behind; a time for being in motion, a time for being at rest; a time for being vigorous, a time for being exhausted; a time for being safe, a time for being in danger. –loc 531

Whoever relies on the Tao in governing men doesn’t try to force issues or defeat enemies by force of arms. For every force there is a counterforce. Violence, even well intentioned, always rebounds upon oneself. –loc 540

The Master does his job and then stops. He understands that the universe is forever out of control, and that trying to dominate events goes against the current of the Tao. Because he believes in himself, he doesn’t try to convince others. Because he is content with himself, he doesn’t need others’ approval. Because he accepts himself, the whole world accepts him. –loc 544

Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich. If you stay in the center and embrace death with your whole heart, you will endure forever. –loc 579

The soft overcomes the hard. The slow overcomes the fast. Let your workings remain a mystery. Just show people the results.

The Master doesn’t try to be powerful; thus he is truly powerful. The ordinary man keeps reaching for power; thus he never has enough. –loc 623

The Master does nothing, yet he leaves nothing undone. The ordinary man is always doing things, yet many more are left to be done. –loc 626

Therefore the Master concerns himself with the depths and not the surface, with the fruit and not the flower. He has no will of his own. He dwells in reality, and lets all illusions go. –loc 636

Ordinary men hate solitude. But the Master makes use of it, embracing his aloneness, realizing he is one with the whole universe. –loc 679

If you look to others for fulfillment, you will never truly be fulfilled. If your happiness depends on money, you will never be happy with yourself. Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you. –loc 692

There is no greater illusion than fear, no greater wrong than preparing to defend yourself, no greater misfortune than having an enemy. Whoever can see through all fear will always be safe. –loc 710

In the pursuit of knowledge, every day something is added. In the practice of the Tao, every day something is dropped. Less and less do you need to force things, until finally you arrive at non-action. When nothing is done, nothing is left undone. True mastery can be gained by letting things go their own way. It can’t be gained by interfering. –loc 723

She is good to people who are good. She is also good to people who aren’t good. This is true goodness. –loc 733

If you want to be a great leader, you must learn to follow the Tao. Stop trying to control. Let go of fixed plans and concepts, and the world will govern itself. –loc 820

Try to make people happy, and you lay the groundwork for misery. –loc 837

Thus the Master is content to serve as an example and not to impose her will. She is pointed, but doesn’t pierce. Straightforward, but supple. Radiant, but easy on the eyes. –loc 840

The Tao is the center of the universe, the good man’s treasure, the bad man’s refuge. Honors can be bought with fine words, respect can be won with good deeds; but the Tao is beyond all value, and no one can achieve it. –loc 878

Confront the difficult while it is still easy; accomplish the great task by a series of small acts. –loc 892

Forcing a project to completion, you ruin what was almost ripe. –loc 908

Therefore the Master takes action by letting things take their course. He remains as calm at the end as at the beginning. He has nothing, thus has nothing to lose. –loc 909

When they think that they know the answers, people are difficult to guide. When they know that they don’t know, people can find their own way. –loc 920

If you want to learn how to govern, avoid being clever or rich. The simplest pattern is the clearest. –loc 923

I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures. –loc 943

The best athlete wants his opponent at his best. The best general enters the mind of his enemy. The best businessman serves the communal good. The best leader follows the will of the people. All of them embody the virtue of non-competition. Not that they don’t love to compete, but they do it in the spirit of play. In this they are like children and in harmony with the Tao. –loc 950

Not-knowing is true knowledge. Presuming to know is a disease. First realize that you are sick; then you can move toward health. –loc 979

When they lose their sense of awe, people turn to religion. When they no longer trust themselves, they begin to depend upon authority. –loc 985

If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to. If you aren’t afraid of dying, there is nothing you can’t achieve. –loc 999

Failure is an opportunity. If you blame someone else, there is no end to the blame. Therefore the Master fulfills her own obligations and corrects her own mistakes. She does what she needs to do and demands nothing of others. –loc 1044

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The Collapsing Empire

Author: John Scalzi
Rating: 8/10
Last Read: April 2017

Quick Summary:  The Collapsing Empire is a newer book of John Scalzi’s (the latest at the time of this writing). The Collapsing Empire is a quick and fun read – it sets up a new universe on the verge of a massive problem. The future space-based empire of man lives on a network of worlds connected by “the flow”. The flow has been assumed to be a stable network between worlds; in the manner of most assumptions, this turns out to not be true and soon the flow will close and mankind will be stranded alone in the dark.

Naturally, many characters are poised to respond to this nascent information – some seek political advantage and power in the coming future, and others seek to prevent the mass extinction of mankind across its many colonies.

The Collapsing Empire is a fun (and mostly light-hearted) read. The only thing I really take points off for is the lack of real resolution at the end of the book. Scalzi is clearly building a new universe and series that will continue on.  However, I contrast this against Old Man’s War, which was the first part of a series but still had a satisfying ending of its own. I prefer my stories to be complete, rather than lacking a satisfying ending.

My Highlights

“You have this all planned out, then.”
“It’s not personal, Captain.”
“Getting murdered for money feels personal, Ollie.”
–loc 104

“But you just said it’s a politically advantageous match.” Batrin gave the very slightest of shrugs.
“It is, but so what? You’ll be emperox soon enough.”
“And then no one can tell me what to do.”
“Oh, no,” Batrin said. “Everyone will tell you what to do. But you won’t always have to listen.”
–loc 459

“If you like we can adjust my conversational model to be more like I was in life.”
“You’re telling me you lied to me in life.”
“No more than to anyone else.”
–loc 1203

“But you just said you were a prophet.”
“Anyone can be a prophet. You just have to say that what you’re talking about is a reflection of God. Or of the gods. Or of some divine spirit. However you want to put it. Whether those things come true isn’t one way or another about it.”
–loc 2638

“He’s a mess,” Marce said.
“Yes, well. Lady Kiva tossed him out an airlock,” Pinton answered.
“You threw him into space?”
“Yup.”
“And he didn’t die?”
“We only threw him out a little bit.”
–loc 3092

“Because he was in the corridor with your ‘associate’ when the bomb went off. He and several other crew members were trying to interrupt your friend. He survived. Two other crew members didn’t.”
“Condolences, Captain.”
“You just threatened to destroy my ship and kill my entire crew, Captain. Your condolences are hollow.”
–loc 3188

“You and me and him. There you’ll explain the entire situation to him, and apologize to him.”
“Sir, for what? As I said, this is entirely a misunderstanding.”
“Then you’ll apologize for the misunderstanding. Ghreni, it doesn’t matter whether you actually have anything to apologize for. The act of apologizing is the thing. You should know that already. That’s basic diplomacy.
–loc 3424

Mount snorted. “I’m not going to appoint her just because the duke died and now she doesn’t have to overthrow him. They are still in rebellion. You don’t win a rebellion by default.” –loc 3683

“I’m continually confronted with the human tendency to ignore or deny facts until the last possible instant. And then for several days after that, too.” –loc 5097

“That’s the human brain,” Attavio VI said. “It creates patterns when there aren’t any. Imagines causality when there is none. Imagines a narrative where none exists. It’s in the design of the brain itself. It’s primed to lie.” “And –loc 5137

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What is Tao?

Author: Alan Watts
Rating: 9/10
Last Read: April 2017

Quick Summary:  Alan Watts’s short book What is Tao? is an excellent (and quick!) introduction to Taoism and its core philosophies. I immediately followed What is Tao? with the Tao Te Ching and started exploring the I Ching. I find that Taoism and Stoicism are very interesting to study together, and I’m excited to dive further into this new area.

My Highlights

As I sat working on this manuscript my eight-year-old son came up to me and asked, “Papa, what are you working on?” I told him it was a book on the Tao, and began to explain a little bit about it, but without a moment’s hesitation he said, “Oh, you mean what’s behind everything” — and then he headed off. Intuitively and experientially we know what it is, but for most of us the problem arises when we try to explain it. –loc 118

Living close to the earth one sees the wisdom of not interfering with the course of life, and of letting things go their way. This is the wisdom that also tells us not to get in our own way, and to paddle with the current, split wood along the grain, and seek to understand the inner workings of our nature instead of trying to change it. –loc 183

In the West our attitude is strangely different, and we constantly use a phrase that sounds peculiar indeed in the ears of a Chinese person: We speak of “the conquest of nature” or “the conquest of space,” and of the “conquest” of great mountains like Everest. And one might very well ask us, “What on Earth is the matter with you? Why must you feel as if you are in a fight with your environment all the time? –loc 235

They would say of a person who cannot trust his own basic nature, “If you cannot trust your own nature, how can you trust your own mistrusting of it? How do you know that your mistrust is not wrong as well?” –loc 267

Once Buddhism was imported to China, Taoism so completely permeated Mahayana Buddhism in general and Zen Buddhism in particular that the philosophies of these schools are often indistinguishable. –loc 278

Confucius was the first to say that he would rather trust human passions and instincts than trust human ideas about what is right, for like the Taoists he realized that we have to allow all living things to look after themselves. –loc 303

The core of Lao-tzu’s written philosophy deals with the art of getting out of one’s own way, learning how to act without forcing conclusions, and living in skillful harmony with the processes of nature instead of trying to push them around. –loc 336

Because of the inseparability of opposites, therefore, you realize that they always go together, and this hints at some kind of unity that underlies them. –loc 358

There is always something that we don’t know. This is well illustrated by the elusive qualities of energy in physics: We cannot really define energy, but we can work with it, and this is the case with the Tao. The Tao works by itself. Its nature is to be, as is said in Chinese, tzu-jan, that which is “of itself,” “by itself,” or “itself so.” –loc 411

The fundamental sense of it is that the Tao operates of itself. All that is natural operates of itself, and there is nothing standing over it and making it goon. In the same way one’s own body operates of itself. You don’t have to decide when and how you’re going to beat your heart; it just happens. You don’t decide exactly how you are going to breathe; your lungs fill and empty themselves without effort. You don’t determine the structure of your own nervous system or of your bones; they grow all by themselves. –loc 417

Lao-tzu would go on to say that since man is an integral part of the natural universe, he cannot hope to control it as if it were an object quite separate from himself. You can’t get outside of nature to be the master of nature. –loc 423

Remember that your heart beats “self-so” — and, if you give it a chance, your mind can function “self-so,” although most of us are afraid to give it a chance. –loc 425

Whenever we have the feeling of being able to dominate ourselves, master ourselves, or become the lords of nature, what happens is that we do not really succeed in getting outside of nature or of ourselves at all. Instead we have forced our way of seeing these things to conform to an illusion that makes us think they are controlled objects, and in doing this we invariably set up a conflict inside the system. –loc 430

We soon find that the tension between our idea of things and things as they are puts us out of accord with the way of things. –loc 433

In Chinese the second principle is called wu wei, and it means literally “not doing,” but would be much better translated to give it the spirit of “not forcing” or “not obstructing.” In reference to the Tao it is the sense that the activity of nature is not self-obstructive. It all works together as a unity and does not, as it were, split apart from itself to do something to itself. –loc 436

Wu wei is also applied to human activity, and refers to a person who does not get in his or her own way. One does not stand in one’s own light while working, and so the way of wu wei (this sounds like a pun but it isn’t) is the way of non-obstruction or noninterference. This is the preeminently practical Taoist principleof life. –loc 439

But what happens was expressed very well in a cartoon I saw the other day: A small boy is standing and looking at his teacher and saying, “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear what you were saying because I was listening so hard.” In other words, when we try to be loving, or to be virtuous, or to be sincere, we actually think about trying to do it in the same way the child was trying to listen, tightening up his muscles and trying to look intelligent as he thought about paying attention. But he wasn’t thinking about what the teacher is saying, and therefore he wasn’t really listening at all. This is a perfect example of what is meant by blocking yourself or getting in your own light. –loc 445

As our own proverb says, “Easy does it.” And wu wei means easy does it. Look out for the grain of things, the way of things. Move in accord with it and work is thereby made simple. –loc 457

The truly virtuous person is unobtrusive. It is not that they are affectedly modest; instead they are what they are quite naturally. –loc 475

This is the thing we all admire and envy so much about children. We say that they are naive, that they are unspoiled, that they are artless, and that they are unself-conscious. When you see a little child dancing who has not yet learned to dance before an audience, you can see the child dancing all by itself, and there is a kind of completeness and genuine integrity to their motion. –loc 479

In all this you will see that there are three stages. There is first what we mightwhat we migh call the natural or the childlike stage of life in which self-consciousness has not yet arisen. Then there comes a middle stage, which we might call one’s awkward age, in which one learns to become self-conscious. And finally the two are integrated in the rediscovered innocence of a liberated person. –loc 488

And so, the secret in Taoism is to get out of one’s own way, and to learn that this pushing ourselves, instead of making us more efficient, actually interferes with everything we set about to do. –loc 503

The ideal of the hundred-percent tough guy, the rigid, rugged fellow with muscles like steel, is really a model for weakness. We probably assume this sort of tough exterior will work as a hard shell to protect ourselves — but so much of what we fear from the outside gets to us because we fear our own weakness on the inside. –loc 529

The philosophy of the Tao has a basic respect for the balance of nature, and if you are sensitive you don’t upset that balance. Instead you try to find out what it is doing, and go along with it. –loc 544

The second principle, beyond understanding and keeping balance, is not to oppose strength with strength. When you are attacked by the enemy, you do not oppose him. Instead you yield to him, just like the matador yields to the bull, and you use his strength and the principle of balance to bring about his downfall. –loc 556

One reason life seems problematic to us, and one reason why we look to philosophy to try to clear it all up, is that we have been trying to fit the order of the universe to the order of words. And it simply does not work. –loc 577

I have often said that the real basis of Buddhism is not a set of ideas but an experience. This of course is equally true of Taoism as well, which like Buddhism recognizes that experience is altogether something different from words. If you have tasted a certain taste, even the taste of water, you know what it is. But to someone who has not tasted it, it can never be explained in words because it goes far beyond words. –loc 579

The order of the world is very different from the order we create with the rules of our syntax and grammar. The order of the world is extraordinarily complex, while the order of words is relatively simple, and to use the order of words to try to explain life is really as clumsy an operation as trying to drink water with a fork. Our confusion of the order of logic and of words with the order of nature is what makes everything seem so problematic to us. –loc 583

In the process of our upbringing, however, and particularly in our education, our parents and teachers are very careful to teach us not to rely on our spontaneous abilities. We are taught to figure things out, and our first task is to learn the different names for everything. In this way we learn to treat all of the things of the world as separate objects. –loc 613

The sociologist George Herbert Meade called this “the interiorized other.” That is to say, we have a kind of interior picture, a vague sense of who we are, and of what the reaction of other people to us says about who we are. That reaction is almost invariably communicated to us through what other people say and think, but soon we learn to maintain the commentary on our own, and each thought or observation is then compared to the idea we have formed. Therefore this image becomes interiorized — a second self who is commenting all the time upon what the first one is doing — and in any given situation we must either rationalize why a certain behavior is consistent with that image, or forceourselves to change that behavior, or fail to change it and feel guilty for failing. The difficulty with this is that although it is exceedingly important for all purposes of civilized intercourse and personal relationships to be able to make sense of what we are doing, and of what other people are doing, and to be able to talk about it all in words, this nevertheless warps –loc 625

We have all admired the spontaneity and freshness of children, and it is regrettable that as children are brought up they become more and more self-conscious. In this way people often lose their freshness, and more and more human beings seem to be turned into creatures calculated to get in their own way. –loc 633

The kind of question to ask the Book of Changes that would be appropriateunder most circumstances is something like this: “What is the best thing for me in my present state?” We phrase a clear question, and then take the coins and shake them and drop them; according to the way they fall on each toss — heads or tails — we construct a six-line hexagram consisting of a pair of three-line trigrams. –loc 654

THE IMAGE Mountains standing close together: The image of keeping still. Thus the superior man Does not permit his thoughts To go beyond his situation. –loc 725

The heart thinks constantly. This cannot be changed. But the movements of the heart — that is, a man’s thoughts — should restrict themselves to the immediate situation. All thinking that goes beyond this only makes the heart sore. –loc 732

But the symbolism of this answer is simply that sitting so as to keep one’s back still, so that one’s back is not noticed, is self-forgetfulness. And keeping one’s thoughts to the immediate situation suggests the practice of meditation or calmness or quietness. That’s what we’re advised to do. It’s good advice. –loc 738

To someone who believes in this system, however, perhaps a traditional Chinese or Japanese person, it does not seem farfetched at all. They might say to us, “First of all, when you consider the facts that are involved in any particular decision, and calculate all the data, how do you select which facts are most relevant?
“If you are going to enter into a business contract, for instance, perhaps the facts you believe pertain to this contract are the state of your own business, the state of the other person’s business, and the prospects of the market, but you probably would not think about many of the personal matters that might affect the plan. And nevertheless, something that you may never have considered at all may enter into the situation and change it completely. The person you’re going into business with may slip on a banana peel and get seriously injured and become inefficient or even detrimental in the business. How could anyone ever predict such an eventuality by taking a sane and rational assessment of the situation?”
–loc 755

Or perhaps they might say to us, “How do you know when you have collected enough data? After all, the data and the potential problems involved in any particular situation are virtually infinite. What causes you to stop collecting data, or stop gathering information about how to solve a problem? I think you just collect information until you are either tired of collecting it, or until the time comes to act and you have run out of time to collect more data.” –loc 764

And one could present a very convincing argument that because you decide when to stop investigating in a very arbitrary way, this method is just as arbitrary as flipping coins. –loc 767

the same is probably true if we look at any given decision that we may make: The probability is that we will weigh all the information, and in the final moment make our decision based upon our “hunch,” which is really a gut feeling about the situation that has little to do with rational thought. –loc 775

The point of view that underlies the Book of Changes is that instead of trying to understand events as relationships to past causes, it understands events by relation to their present pattern. –loc 811

In the same way, the fundamental philosophy of the Book of Changes and of the Chinese idea of the relationship between events is to understand every event in its present context. We do not understand something by what went before so much as we do by understanding it in terms of what goes with it. So the idea of the Book of Changes is to review through its symbols the total pattern of the moment when the question is asked, and the supposition is that the pattern of this moment governs even the tossing of the coins. –loc 824

In our restlessness we are always tempted to climb every hill and cross every skyline to find out what lies beyond, yet as you get older and wiser it is not just flagging energy but wisdom that teaches you to look at mountains from below, or perhaps just climb them a little way. For at the top you can no longer see the mountain. And beyond, on the other side, there is, perhaps, just another valley like this. –loc 853

Every stream, every road, if followed persistently and meticulously to its end, leads nowhere at all. –loc 868

Any place where we are may be considered the center of the universe. Anywhere that we stand can be considered the destination of our journey. –loc 880

In the end, we must decide what we really want to know about. Do we trust nature, or would we rather try to manage the whole thing? Do we want to be some kind of omnipotent god, in control of it all, or do we want to enjoy it instead? After all, we can’t enjoy what we are anxiously trying to control. –loc 895

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Letters from the Earth

Author: Mark Twain
Rating: 7/10
Last Read: April 2017

Quick Summary:  Letters from the Earth is a set of “essays” or short letters written from the perspective of the angel Lucifer while he spends a “timeout” of sorts on Earth. Lucifer writes to his fellow archangels Gabriel and Michael and shares his observations about mankind, God’s most recent creation. Lucifer is relentless is his mockery of the human religion, especially focusing on mankind’s inability to recognize that the God they worship and heaven they seek is n’t what they want at all.

This is an amusing and quick read, focusing on some idiosyncrasies of Christianity and the biblical stories we are familiar with. The Lucifer portrayed in the books is an amused observer rather than a silver-tongued trickster, and the tone of much of the work is what I would call “sarcastic astonishment”.

My Highlights

He prays for help, and favor, and protection, every day; and does it with hopefulness and confidence, too, although no prayer of his has ever been answered. The daily affront, the daily defeat, do not discourage him, he goes on praying just the same. There is something almost fine about this perseverance. I must put one more strain upon you: he thinks he is going to heaven! –loc 82

For instance, take this sample: he has imagined a heaven, and has left entirely out of it the supremest of all his delights, the one ecstasy that stands first and foremost in the heart of every individual of his race — and of ours — sexual intercourse! –loc 93

His heaven is like himself: strange, interesting, astonishing, grotesque. I give you my word, it has not a single feature in it that he actually values. It consists — utterly and entirely — of diversions which he cares next to nothing about, here in the earth, yet is quite sure he will like them in heaven. Isn’t it curious? Isn’t it interesting? –loc 96

Every man, according to the mental equipment that has fallen to his share, exercises his intellect constantly, ceaselessly, and this exercise makes up a vast and valued and essential part of his life. The lowest intellect, like the highest, possesses a skill of some kind and takes a keen pleasure in testing it, proving it, perfecting it. The urchin who is his comrade’s superior in games is as diligent and as enthusiastic in his practice as are the sculptor, the painter, the pianist, the mathematician and the rest. Not one of them could be happy if his talent were put under an interdict. –loc 112

It is because they do not think at all; they only think they think. Whereas they can’t think; not two human beings in ten thousand have anything to think with. And as to imagination — oh, well, look at their heaven! They accept it, they approve it, they admire it. That gives you their intellectual measure. –loc 153

Every man in the earth possesses some share of intellect, large or small; and be it large or be it small he takes pride in it. –loc 160

By this time you will have noticed that the human being’s heaven has been thought out and constructed upon an absolute definite plan; and that this plan is, that it shall contain, in labored detail, each and every imaginable thing that is repulsive to a man, and not a single thing he likes! –loc 170

This Bible is built mainly out of the fragments of older Bibles that had their day and crumbled to ruin. So it noticeably lacks in originality, necessarily. Its three or four most imposing and impressive events all happened in earlier Bibles; all its best precepts and rules of conduct came also from those Bibles; there are only two new things in it: hell, for one, and that singular heaven I have told you about. –loc 181

A Christian mother’s first duty is to soil her child’s mind, and she does not neglect it. –loc 237

Then at last, Noah sailed; and none too soon, for the Ark was only just sinking out of sight on the horizon when the monsters arrived, and added their lamentations to those of the multitude of weeping fathers and mothers and frightened little children who were clinging to the wave-washed rocks in the pouring rain and lifting imploring prayers to an All-Just and All-Forgiving and All-Pitying Being who had never answered a prayer since those crags were builded, grain by grain, out of the sands, and would still not have answered one when the ages should have crumbled them to sand again. –loc 339

Do you think he was able to stick to that upright and creditable position? No. He could keep to a bad resolution forever, but he couldn’t keep to a good one a month. By and by he threw aside and calmly claimed to be the only God in the entire universe. –loc 380

He equips the Creator with every trait that goes to the making of a fiend, and then arrives at the conclusion that a fiend and a father are the same thing! Yet he would deny that a malevolent lunatic and a Sunday school superintendent are essentially the same. What do you think of the human mind? I mean, in case you think there is a human mind. –loc 410

The poor’s most implacable and unwearying enemy is their Father in Heaven. The poor’s only real friend is their fellow man. He is sorry for them, he pities them, and he shows it by his deeds. He does much to relieve their distresses; and in every case their Father in Heaven gets the credit of it. –loc 451

For instance, he concedes that God made man. Made him without man’s desire of privity. This seems to plainly and indisputably make God, and God alone, responsible for man’s acts. But man denies this. –loc 520

He concedes that God has made the angels perfect, without blemish, and immune from pain and death, and that he could have been similarly kind to man if he had wanted to, but denies that he was under any moral obligation to do it. –loc 521

But man is only briefly competent; and only then in the moderate measure applicable to the word in his sex’s case. He is competent from the age of sixteen or seventeen thence-forward for thirty-five years. After fifty his performance is of poor quality, the intervals between are wide, and its satisfactions of no great value to either party; whereas his great-grandmother is as good as new. There is nothing the matter with her plant. Her candlestick is as firm as ever, whereas his candle is increasingly softened and weakened by the weather of age, as the years go by, until at last it can no longer stand, and is mournfully laid to rest in the hope of a blessed resurrection which is never to come. –loc 566

The first time the Deity came down to earth, he brought life and death; when he came the second time, he brought hell. –loc 619

He killed all those people — every male. They had offended the Deity in some way. We know what the offense was, without looking; that is to say, we know it was a trifle; some small thing that no one but a god would attach any importance to. –loc 689

For that had always been his idea of fair dealing. If he had had a motto, it would have read, “Let no innocent person escape.” –loc 695

Some Midianite must have repeated Onan’s act, and brought that dire disaster upon his nation. If that was not the indelicacy that outraged the feelings of the Deity, then I know what it was: some Midianite had been pissing against the wall. I am sure of it, for that was an impropriety which the Source of all Etiquette never could stand. A person could piss against a tree, he could piss on his mother, he could piss on his own breeches, and get off, but he must not piss against the wall — that would be going quite too far. The origin of the divine prejudice against this humble crime is not stated; but we know that the prejudice was very strong — so strong that nothing but a wholesale massacre of the people inhabiting the region where the wall was defiled could satisfy the Deity. –loc 701

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Twenty-Seven Articles by T.E. Lawrence

Author: T.E. Lawrence
Rating: 9/10
Last Read: April 2017

Quick Summary

Twenty-Seven Articles is a short essay by T.E. Lawrence. On the surface, these articles are a set of notes and advice for his fellow soldiers who were going to work with indigenous Arab forces. I was quite surprised to find the general applicability of many of these articles to business, especially from a consulting perspective.

This short read can leave you with at least one piece of advice that you can use in your own life – why not take the time to read it? Best of all – it’s out of copyright, so you can find it for free on the internet!

My Highlights

Valuable advice for any new relationship:

Go easy for the first few weeks. A bad start is difficult to atone for, and the Arabs form their judgments on externals that we ignore. When you have reached the inner circle in a tribe, you can do as you please with yourself and them.

A few useful notes for consultants and advisors:

In matters of business deal only with the commander of the army, column, or party in which you serve. Never give orders to anyone at all, and reserve your directions or advice for the C.O., however great the temptation (for efficiency’s sake) of dealing with his underlings. Your place is advisory, and your advice is due to the commander alone. Let him see that this is your conception of your duty, and that his is to be the sole executive of your joint plans.

Win and keep the confidence of your leader. Strengthen his prestige at your expense before others when you can.

A few notes useful for managing up or consulting:

Never refuse or quash schemes he may put forward; but ensure that they are put forward in the first instance privately to you. Always approve them, and after praise modify them insensibly, causing the suggestions to come from him, until they are in accord with your own opinion. When you attain this point, hold him to it, keep a tight grip of his ideas, and push them forward as firmly as possibly, but secretly, so that to one but himself (and he not too clearly) is aware of your pressure.

Remain in touch with your leader as constantly and unobtrusively as you can. Live with him, that at meal times and at audiences you may be naturally with him in his tent. Formal visits to give advice are not so good as the constant dropping of ideas in casual talk.

Treat the sub-chiefs of your force quite easily and lightly. In this way you hold yourself above their level. Treat the leader, if a Sherif, with respect. He will return your manner and you and he will then be alike, and above the rest. Precedence is a serious matter among the Arabs, and you must attain it.

Your ideal position is when you are present and not noticed. Do not be too intimate, too prominent, or too earnest. Avoid being identified too long or too often with any tribal sheikh, even if C.O. of the expedition. To do your work you must be above jealousies, and you lose prestige if you are associated with a tribe or clan, and its inevitable feuds.

Cling tight to your sense of humour. You will need it every day. A dry irony is the most useful type, and repartee of a personal and not too broad character will double your influence with the chiefs. Reproof, if wrapped up in some smiling form, will carry further and last longer than the most violent speech. The power of mimicry or parody is valuable, but use it sparingly, for wit is more dignified than humour. Do not cause a laugh at a Sherif except among Sherifs.

A note I need to absorb personally:

It is difficult to keep quiet when everything is being done wrong, but the less you lose your temper the greater your advantage. Also then you will not go mad yourself.

This is valuable advice for anyone who has to manage employees or external teams:

Do not try to do too much with your own hands. Better the Arabs do it tolerably than that you do it perfectly. It is their war, and you are to help them, not to win it for them. Actually, also, under the very odd conditions of Arabia, your practical work will not be as good as, perhaps, you think it is.

Understand what the other side of the table really wants. What is said on the surface is probably not all there is:

The open reason that Bedu give you for action or inaction may be true, but always there will be better reasons left for you to divine. You must find these inner reasons (they will be denied, but are none the less in operation) before shaping your arguments for one course or other. Allusion is more effective than logical exposition: they dislike concise expression. Their minds work just as ours do, but on different premises. There is nothing unreasonable, incomprehensible, or inscrutable in the Arab. Experience of them, and knowledge of their prejudices will enable you to foresee their attitude and possible course of action in nearly every case.

The beginning and ending of the secret of handling Arabs is unremitting study of them. Keep always on your guard; never say an unnecessary thing: watch yourself and your companions all the time: hear all that passes, search out what is going on beneath the surface, read their characters, discover their tastes and their weaknesses and keep everything you find out to yourself.

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The Old Man and the Sea

Author: Ernest Hemingway
Rating: 9/10
Last Read: May 2017

Quick Summary:  The Old Man and the Sea is a short book by Hemingway which focuses on an old Cuban fisherman who has gone three months without catching a fish.  He is seen as bad luck, and sets out to sea alone so as to not bring bad luck upon his young companion.

The old man manages to finally break his streak of bad luck by hooking a big fish – but he gets dragged further out to sea by the fish for two days as he strains against the lines and hopes to catch it.  His opponent is more than he bargained for, and a great struggle ensues.

This is a quick read, but I found it to be very emotionally powerful. I feel for the old man, struggling to survive and prove himself against a great foe, and for the eventual tragedy at the end. I agree with the old man, it would have been better if he had not gone out so far and hooked such a notable creature.

My Highlights

Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated. –loc 66

He no longer dreamed of storms, nor of women, nor of great occurrences, nor of great fish, nor fights, nor contests of strength, nor of his wife. He only dreamed of places now and of the lions on the beach. –loc 204

Every day is a new day. It is better to be lucky. But I would rather be exact. Then when luck comes you are ready. –loc 268

He also drank a cup of shark liver oil each day from the big drum in the shack where many of the fishermen kept their gear. It was there for all fishermen who wanted it. Most fishermen hated the taste. But it was no worse than getting up at the hours that they rose and it was very good against all colds and grippes and it was good for the eyes. –loc 312

No one should be alone in their old age, he thought. But it is unavoidable. –loc 407

He looked across the sea and knew how alone he was now. But he could see the prisms in the deep dark water and the line stretching ahead and the strange undulation of the calm. The clouds were building up now for the trade wind and he looked ahead and saw a flight of wild ducks etching themselves against the sky over the water, then blurring, then etching again and he knew no man was ever alone on the sea. –loc 518

I wonder why he jumped, the old man thought. He jumped almost as though to show me how big he was. I know now, anyway, he thought. I wish I could show him what sort of man I am. But then he would see the cramped hand. Let him think I am more man than I am and I will be so. I wish I was the fish, he thought, with everything he has against only my will and my intelligence. –loc 547

He was comfortable but suffering, although he did not admit the suffering at –loc 552

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.” Then he added, “Blessed Virgin, pray for the death of this fish. Wonderful though he is.” –loc 557

The thousand times that he had proved it meant nothing. Now he was proving it again. Each time was a new time and he never thought about the past when he was doing it. –loc 567

The punishment of the hook is nothing. The punishment of hunger, and that he is against something that he does not comprehend, is everything. –loc 656

I’m clear enough in the head, he thought. Too clear. I am as clear as the stars that are my brothers. Still I must sleep. They sleep and the moon and the sun sleep and even the ocean sleeps sometimes on certain days when there is no current and a flat calm. –loc 664

“Fish,” the old man said. “Fish, you are going to have to die anyway. Do you have to kill me too?” –loc 792

You are killing me, fish, the old man thought. But you have a right to. Never have I seen a greater, or more beautiful, or a calmer or more noble thing than you, brother. Come on and kill me. I do not care who kills who. –loc 796

“Come on, fish,” he said. But the fish did not come. Instead he lay there wallowing now in the seas and the old man pulled the skiff up onto him. –loc 827

Then his head started to become a little unclear and he thought, is he bringing me in or am I bringing him in? If I were towing him behind there would be no question. Nor if the fish were in the skiff, with all dignity gone, there would be no question either. But they were sailing together lashed side by side and the old man thought, let him bring me in if it pleases him. I am only better than him through trickery and he meant me no harm. –loc 854

But that was the location of the brain and the old man hit it. He hit it with his blood mushed hands driving a good harpoon with all his strength. He hit it without hope but with resolution and complete malignancy. –loc 879

“But man is not made for defeat,” he said. “A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” I am sorry that I killed the fish though, he thought. Now the bad time is coming and I do not even have the harpoon. The dentuso is cruel and able and strong and intelligent. But I was more intelligent than he was. Perhaps not, he thought. Perhaps I was only better armed. –loc 890

It is silly not to hope, he thought. Besides I believe it is a sin. Do not think about sin, he thought. There are enough problems now without sin. Also I have no understanding of it. –loc 903

Besides, he thought, everything kills everything else in some way. Fishing kills me exactly as it keeps me alive. –loc 914

Luck is a thing that comes in many forms and who can recognize her? I would take some though in any form and pay what they asked. –loc 1010

The wind is our friend, anyway, he thought. Then he added, sometimes. And the great sea with our friends and our enemies. And bed, he thought. Bed is my friend. Just bed, he thought. Bed will be a great thing. It is easy when you are beaten, he thought. I never knew how easy it was. And what beat you, he thought. –loc 1036

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Haiku #2

Much disturbs water
Effects aren't always small, yet
Peace always returns

(circa 2012)

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Haiku #1

You are beautiful.
I look at you, distracted.
I trip, falling hard.

(circa 2012)

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Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Book 1)

Author: Douglas Adams
Rating: 9/10
Last Read: February 2017

Quick Summary:  Hitchhiker’s Guide is a science fiction book that follows the adventure of Arthur Dent and his unlikely companions. This books is full of nonsense – aliens with two heads, ridiculous names, strange encyclopedia articles, and mice running experiments on humans.  If you love to laugh, this book is for you. No, really, that’s the only recommendation you need.

If you want to take your enjoyment of this book to the next level, I recommend reading it out loud to yourself, your friends, your dog, or your spouse. Adams’s humor jumps to another level when you have to try to say the words written on the page out loud. Having read this book multiple times, I can definitely say that everything was funnier when I said it out loud.

Definitely an enjoyable read (and re-read).  Also a worthy pre-bed book, though you might find that the giggles don’t help you fall asleep.

My Highlights

The thing that used to worry him most was the fact that people always used to ask him what he was looking so worried about. –loc 425

“Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.” –loc 668

At first Ford had formed a theory to account for this strange behavior. If human beings don’t keep exercising their lips, he thought, their mouths probably seize up. After a few months’ consideration and observation he abandoned this theory in favor of a new one. If they don’t keep on exercising their lips, he thought, their brains start working. –loc 984

Or do you just find that coming to terms with the mindless tedium of it all presents an interesting challenge?” –loc 1288

“You know,” said Arthur, “it’s at times like this, when I’m trapped in a Vogon airlock with a man from Betelgeuse, and about to die of asphyxiation in deep space, that I really wish I’d listened to what my mother told me when I was young.” “Why, what did she tell you?” “I don’t know, I didn’t listen.” “Oh.” Ford carried on humming. –loc 1346

They both sat on the pavement and watched with a certain unease as huge children bounced heavily along the sand and wild horses thundered through the sky taking fresh supplies of reinforced railings to the Uncertain Areas. –loc 1420

Curiously enough, the only thing that went through the mind of the bowl of petunias as it fell was Oh no, not again. Many people have speculated that if we knew exactly why the bowl of petunias had thought that we would know a lot more about the nature of the Universe than we do now. –loc 1933

It is an important and popular fact that things are not always what they seem. –loc 2356

For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much—the wheel, New York, wars and so on—while all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man—for precisely the same reasons. –loc 2357

“You know,” said Arthur thoughtfully, “all this explains a lot of things. All through my life I’ve had this strange unaccountable feeling that something was going on in the world, something big, even sinister, and no one would tell me what it was.”
“No,” said the old man, “that’s just perfectly normal paranoia. Everyone in the Universe has that.” –loc 2771

“Maybe. Who cares?” said Slartibartfast before Arthur got too excited. “Perhaps I’m old and tired,” he continued, “but I always think that the chances of finding out what really is going on are so absurdly remote that the only thing to do is to say hang the sense of it and just keep yourself occupied. Look at me: I design coastlines. I got an award for Norway.” –loc 2776

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The Man in the High Castle

Author: Philip K. Dick
Rating: 7/10
Last Read: February 2017

Quick Summary:  As a long time sci-fi fan (and Philip K. Dick fan), I was disappointed that I never read The Man in the High Castle.  Once I saw it was being made into a mini-series, I was motivated to finally read it.

The Man in the High Castle is a short novel set in an alternate universe. The notable difference between the book’s universe and our own is that the Axis won WWII. The United States is split between Japan and Germany. The book takes place in Japanese-occupied San Francisco and follows multiple Japanese, American, and German characters. The characters are interrelated, if only through chance meetings, and they provide different views into the culture and challenges of this alternative world.

If you’re looking for a complete story with a nice ending, The Man in the High Castle is not for you. The book offers no resolution, it is simply a glimpse into an alternative reality and a study of the characters who live there.

Overall I enjoyed reading the book – it was an excellent pre-bed reading option.

My Highlights

Yes, these new young people, of the rising generation, who did not remember the days before the war or even the war itself—they were the hope of the world. Place difference did not have the significance for them. It will end, Childan thought. Someday. The very idea of place. Not governed and governing, but people. –loc 92

‘What profit it a man if he gain the whole world but in this enterprise lose his soul?’” –loc 170

Random, and yet rooted in the moment in which he lived, in which his life was bound up with all other lives and particles in the universe. –loc 190

Tagomi had never ridden on such a ship; when he met Mr. Baynes he would have to take care to appear blasé, no matter how large the rocket turned out to be. Now to practice. He stood in front of the mirror on the office wall, creating a face of composure, mildly bored, inspecting his own cold features for any giveaway. Yes, they are very noisy, Mr. Baynes, sir. One cannot read. But then the flight from Stockholm to San Francisco is only forty-five minutes. –loc 225

“You never know what they’re going to do,” Juliana said. “They hide their real thoughts.” –loc 438

Watching him, Juliana thought, It’s idealism that makes him that bitter. Asking too much out of life. Always moving on, restless and griped. I’m the same way; I couldn’t stay on the West Coast and eventually I won’t be able to stand it here. Weren’t the old-timers like that? But, she thought, now the frontier isn’t here; it’s the other planets. –loc 492

Perhaps if you know you are insane then you are not insane. Or you are becoming sane, finally. Waking up. I suppose only a few are aware of all this. Isolated persons here and there. But the broad masses . . . what do they think? All these hundreds of thousands in this city, here. Do they imagine that they live in a sane world? Or do they guess, glimpse, the truth . . . –loc 572

They want to be the agents, not the victims, of history. They identify with God’s power and believe they are godlike. That is their basic madness. They are overcome by some archetype; their egos have expanded psychotically so that they cannot tell where they begin and the godhead leaves off. It is not hubris, not pride; it is inflation of the ego to its ultimate—confusion between him who worships and that which is worshiped. Man has not eaten God; God has eaten man. –loc 587

What they do not comprehend is man’s helplessness. I am weak, small, of no consequence to the universe. It does not notice me; I live on unseen. But why is that bad? Isn’t it better that way? Whom the gods notice they destroy. Be small . . . and you will escape the jealousy of the great. –loc 590

That McCarthy, he thought, is a damn good shop foreman. He has the knack of needling a man, getting him to put out his best efforts, to do his utmost in spite of himself. He’s a natural leader; he almost inspired me, for a moment, there. But—McCarthy had gone off, now; the effort had failed. –loc 691

“We must all have faith in something,” Mr. Tagomi said. “We cannot know the answers. We cannot see ahead, on our own.” –loc 1001

Gemeinschaft—folkness. –loc 2316

“Juliana, it’s all darkness,” Joe said. “Nothing is true or certain. Right?” “Maybe so,” she said absently, continuing to try to read. –loc 2329

Nothing. Heart pounding. Respiration and all somatic processes, including all manner of diencephalic-controlled autonomic responses to crisis: adrenaline, greater heartbeat, pulse rate, glands pouring, throat paralyzed, eyes staring, bowels loose, et al. Stomach queasy and sex instinct suppressed. –loc 2363

And yet, nothing to see; nothing for body to do. Run? All in preparation for panic flight. But where to and why? Mr. Tagomi asked himself. No clue. Therefore impossible. Dilemma of civilized man; body mobilized, but danger obscure. –loc 2365

Calmly, even harshly, Paul said, “Robert, you must face reality with more courage.” –loc 2531

Childan thought, He’s actually saying: Which are you Robert? He whom the oracle calls “the inferior man,” or that other for whom all the good advice is meant? Must decide, here. You may trot on one way or the other, but not both. Moment of choice now. –loc 2581

The oracle enigmatic. Perhaps it has withdrawn from the world of man in sorrow. The sages leaving. We have entered a Moment when we are alone. We cannot get assistance, as before. Well, Mr. Tagomi thought, perhaps that too is good. Or can be made good. One must still try to find the Way. –loc 3179

But we cannot do it all at once; it is a sequence. An unfolding process. We can only control the end by making a choice at each step. –loc 3516

We do not have the ideal world, such as we would like, where morality is easy because cognition is easy. Where one can do right with no effort because he can detect the obvious. –loc 3519

Juliana said, “Oracle, why did you write The Grasshopper Lies Heavy? What are we supposed to learn?”
“You have a disconcertingly superstitious way of phrasing your question,” Hawthorne said. –loc 3680