Questions and Musings...

I was, I am, I will be. I was not, I am not, I will not be. People were, people are, people will be. We all pass, some of us forgotten and some of us remembered. Perhaps not with what we liked, but we are remembered. Sometimes all I want to be is... forgotten. I wish not for anything more, just to be forgotten. It's not as simple as I'd wish it were, for I do not know the extent of my existence. Not just that which is yet to come, but that which has already happened. Maybe the future has already happened and all we're doing is acting it out. Maybe time runs in the opposite direction; we die before we were born. Who said that we're living anyway? We only say we're living now because that's what everybody else says, but who thought so in the first place? Perhaps he was mistaken. Perhaps we are not living. Perhaps we are still waiting for our true life to be here. Can we cease to exist? Why is it impossible for us to truly 'create' something that was never there? Can I take this as proof of us being creatures and that there's a God who was created this universe? To what degree can a theory be inflated by a man to satisfy himself and not to seek the truth? Would it really be good if man gained better knowledge of the supernatural? Can man truly comprehend the supernatural if it were explained to him, or is it supernatural because man can't understand it? Can we define a God as the entity which can both create and give consciousness and life to that which it creates? What would happen if man were able to understand the language of other living creatures, such as trees? Would this make him any different? Would he be able to sleep at night? How do some men sleep at night knowing that what they've done is what they shouldn't have done? Why is it that those who do not deserve to have power have it? If the world is unjust to everyone equally, wouldn't this actually make it just? Is there anything that is just what it is, or is everything more than it appears to be? Why is it that as far as I know, I will never know?

God bless.

(:

P.S.: Thought of the day: Good art is always more than it appears to be.

Bertrand Russel; Quotes

Today I'm sharing with you some quotes from Bertrand Russell; a British mathematician, philosopher and logician. Enjoy.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Mathematics may be defined as the subject in which we never know what we are talking about, nor whether what we are saying is true."

"Historical facts, many of them, have an intrinsic value, a profound interest on their own account, which makes them worthy of study, quite apart from any possibility of linking them together by means of causal laws."

"No nation was ever so virtuous as each believes itself, and none was ever so wicked as each believes the other."

"It is preoccupation with possession, more than anything else, that prevents men from living freely and nobly."

"To save the world requires faith and courage: faith in reason, and courage to proclaim what reason shows to be true."

"We all have a tendency to think that the world must conform to our prejudices. The opposite view involves some effort of thought, and most people would die sooner than think — in fact they do so."

"The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge."

"Neither acquiescence in skepticism nor acquiescence in dogma is what education should produce. What it should produce is a belief that knowledge is attainable in a measure, though with difficulty; that much of what passes for knowledge at any given time is likely to be more or less mistaken, but that the mistakes can be rectified by care and industry. In acting upon our beliefs, we should be very cautious where a small error would mean disaster; nevertheless it is upon our beliefs that we must act. This state of mind is rather difficult: it requires a high degree of intellectual culture without emotional atrophy. But though difficult, it is not impossible; it is in fact the scientific temper. Knowledge, like other good things, is difficult, but not impossible; the dogmatist forgets the difficulty, the skeptic denies the possibility. Both are mistaken, and their errors, when widespread, produce social disaster."

"What is new in our time is the increased power of the authorities to enforce their prejudices."

"Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty."

"Reason is a harmonising, controlling force rather than a creative one. Even in the most purely logical realms, it is insight that first arrives at what is new."

"To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead."

"Boredom is therefore a vital problem for the moralist, since at least half the sins of mankind are caused by the fear of it."

"Not to be absolutely certain is, I think, one of the essential things in rationality."

"Change is one thing, progress is another. "Change" is scientific, "progress" is ethical; change is indubitable, whereas progress is a matter of controversy."

"As soon as we abandon our own reason, and are content to rely upon authority, there is no end to our troubles."

"Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course, over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair..Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people..the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate this evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer. This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EDIT: The following quotes were sent to me by a friend after seeing this post, and I could not resist sharing them on here, so I've added them. Enjoy:


"One should as a rule respect public opinion in so far as is necessary to avoid starvation and to keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny, and is likely to interfere with happiness in all kinds of ways."

“The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd.”

“Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.”

"One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important."

"I remain convinced that obstinate addiction to ordinary language in our private thoughts is one of the main obstacles to progress in philosophy."

"Sin is geographical."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

God bless.

(:

An Apology?

This is an apology that has been overdue for a long time. First of all, I'd like to apologize for not being enough. I could have been much more, but many times I've favored not being so and then regretted it later on, and this apology is directed towards myself and everyone who has wanted me to be more. Secondly, I'd like to apologize for those in whose lives I exist, without them liking it. It is not my choice to be in your life, and neither is it your choice to be in the lives of others, but so it is. Perhaps the purpose is to learn how to accept one another, and perhaps there is a much greater purpose that we might not understand yet. Perhaps when we age we will understand it, and that's when we'll understand why nobody else has passed it on to us. Thirdly, I'd like to apologize to all of those people whom I've been bad to. You may have noticed it, and you may have not. I may have noticed it, and I may have not. I'd like to apologize for all such instances here. I do not apologize out of pity for others, but out of pity for myself.

Seeking retribution to be at peace with one's self is important, after all.

God bless.

(:

P.S.: Perhaps the secret of life has been there all along, but only manifesting itself to those nearing their 'death'. It is then that they understand it, and also understand why nobody ever passed it on. Oh, how I long for the holy union of death.

Simple or complex?

I've always been a big fan of everything simple, and so is the case with most people. At the same time, I'm also an advocate for (almost) everything complex.. and that's not the case with most people. I've never been able to choose a side because I look at the two ideas differently. The difference is easy to understand, but has big consequences. Simply put, simple things tend to reflect a part of yourself in them. Complex things reflect many parts of their creator's character, which you may sometimes be able to connect with. Thus, people like simple because it was made for them. People's liking of complex depends on whether or not they can relate to the character and mindset of the complex entity's creator. From a personal point of view, I believe that most people appreciate both simple and complex, but they might not always see it in themselves. But they should fret not, because when someone points it out to them, they will have some sort of a self-epiphany or revelation. It should be beautiful.

The following is a song called "Raoui", by an Algerian artist named Souad Massi. She is an amazing artist and a beautiful soul, and I'm sharing with you this simple song by her. Just a voice and a guitar. Enjoy.

God bless.

(:

Discovering your influences..

Please listen to the following video while listening (no need to watch):

Do you know that euphoric feeling you get when you witness something that you find so inspirational? And that feeling you get when you 'discover' a person that you believe you've met before, long before either of you were born? I got that feeling today. Today I 'met' Arvo Pärt. Not in person, but in soul.  Arvo Pärt  is an Estonian composer, and I discovered him and his music today by coincidence. He is famous for his 'Tintinnabulation' composition approach which he 'created'. I'm going to share with you a few of his words and music.

"Silence is the pause in me when I am near to God."

"Tintinnabulation is an area I sometimes wander into when I am searching for answers--in my life, my music, my work. In my dark hours, I have the certain feeling that everything outside this one thing has no meaning. The complex and many-faceted only confuses me, and I must search for unity. What is it, this one thing, and how do I find my way to it? Traces of this perfect thing appear in many guises--and everything that is unimportant falls away."

"A need to concentrate on each sound, so that every blade of grass would be as important as a flower."

"I could compare my music to white light which contains all colours. Only a prism can divide the colours and make them appear; this prism could be the spirit of the listener."

"I have discovered that it is enough when a single note is beautifully played."


Now to his music. You need not watch anything. Just close your eyes and 'feel' whatever it is you hear. Whatever it is, I can almost promise you that it'll be beautiful. For me, it is beyond.

God bless.

(: