Stoic Teacher

It is now generally admitted, at any rate by philosophers, that the existence of a being having the attributes which define the god of any non-animistic religion cannot be demonstratively proved... [A]ll utterances about the nature of God are nonsensical. ~ A.J. Ayer, Language, Truth, and Logic ✒️

There may be some truth (atheists) do not need to believe in a god to be good, but then if they do not believe in a god, who do they believe gives the Universal Law of following good and shunning evil? Obviously, mankind. But then that is a dangerous thing, for if a man does not believe in a god capable of giving perfect laws, he is in the position of declaring all laws come from man, and as man is imperfect, he can declare that as fallible men make imperfect laws, he can pick and choose what he wishes to follow, that which, in his own mind seems good. He does not believe in divine retribution, therefore he can also declare his own morality contrary to what the divine may decree simply because he believes there is no divine decree. He may follow his every whim and passion, declaring it to be good when it may be very evil, for he like all men is imperfect, so how can he tell what is verily good? The atheist is in danger of mistaking vice for good and consequently follow another slave master and tyrant, his own physical and mental weakness. Evil would be wittingly or unwittingly perpetrated, therefore, to recognise the existence of a perfect divine being that gives perfect Universal Laws is much better than not to believe in a god, for if there is a perfect god, they will not allow their laws to be broken with impunity as in the case with many corrupt judges on earth, but will punish accordingly in due time. Therefore, to be pious and reverent is the surest path to true freedom as a perfect god will give perfect laws to prevent all manner of slavery, tyranny and moral wantonness, even if we do not understand why they are good laws at times. ~ E.A. Bucchianeri, Brushstrokes of a Gadfly ✒️

Let people be the pursuits of happiness, you be the pursuit of perfection. ~ Amit Kalantri ✒️

We are all dying to give our lives away to something, maybe. God or Satan, politics or grammar, topology or philately (...) To games or needles, to some other person. ~ David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest ✒️

This body is fragile. It is just flesh. Listen to the heartbeat. Life depends on the pumping of a muscle. ~ Stephen Batchelor, Buddhism without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening ✒️

Your daily reminder!!!! 53.28% of the year 2024 remains!!! 46.72 % of the year 2024 completed!!!! ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▒░░░░░░░░░░ 46.72% ⏰

Miss Abbott, don't worry over me. Some people are born not to do things. I'm one of them. ~ E.M. Forster, Where Angels Fear to Tread ✒️

It takes a well-spent lifetime, and perhaps more, to crystalize in us that for which we exist. ~ Jean Toomer, Cane ✒️

A crude age. Peace is stabilized with cannon and bombers, humanity with concentration camps and pogroms. We're living in a time when all standards are turned upside-down, Kern. Today the aggressor is the shepherd of peace, and the beaten and hunted are the troublemakers of the world. What's more, there are whole races who believe it! ~ Erich Maria Remarque, Flotsam ✒️

Not only are there meaningless questions, but many of the problems with which the human intellect has tortured itself turn out to be only 'pseudo problems,' because they can be formulated only in terms of questions which are meaningless. Many of the traditional problems of philosophy, of religion, or of ethics, are of this character. Consider, for example, the problem of the freedom of the will. You maintain that you are free to take either the right- or the left-hand fork in the road. I defy you to set up a single objective criterion by which you can prove after you have made the turn that you might have made the other. The problem has no meaning in the sphere of objective activity; it only relates to my personal subjective feelings while making the decision. ~ Percy Williams Bridgman, The Nature of Physical Theory ✒️