ANTINOMIA is an ongoing work divided into two sections: (I)
DESCRIPTIVUS PHILOSOPHICUS which is concerned with mathematics, metaphysics, ontology and
epistimology, and (II) PRESCRIPTIVUS PHILOSOPHICUS which is concerned with aesthetics,
morality and politics.
it is dedicated to the memory of rogers albritton,
w. v. o. quine, b.f. skinner and john rawls.
descriptivus philosophicus
(excerpts from ANTINOMIA)
Intuition is Ontology whispering in your ear.
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Everything heads towards the Empyrean.
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The I is the chasm between cause and effect.
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The transcendental is atemporal.
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Everything is in relation to everything. Should one thing change, all others follow.
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The poet's blood is the philosopher's wine.
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The Ontological Problem:
(Prescription-> Description) v (Description-> Prescription) v (Description = Prescription) ?
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The problems of philosophy are not caused by the limits of expression, they are problems caused by the limits of comprehension.
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Our problems (metaphysics, ontology and epistemology) stem not from the external world, but rather the internal one.
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To the scientist and philosopher of science, the question is not "what is gravity?" ie: how does gravity work? Rather, the question is, "what function does gravity serve?" ie: why does gravity work? Simply: "know not how a thing functions, but rather, why it exists." Know the latter and all else follows.
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Ontology entails everything else.
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The problems stemming from identities of the form x=y (e.g. the morning star = the evening star) only take us back to the way we look at the world- the battleground of Rationalism vs. Empiricism. They're just another puzzle linked to those old antinomies. The root, even if obscured by the soil, nonetheless nourishes the plant. Why must they continue to be watered?! Pull them out!
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A new aesthetic for the Foundation of Number based on Geometry- Geo-Pictoral representations.
(e.g.):
This foundation is based on sides and relations, not empirical objects. Thus, it is synthetic a priori.
Here, 0 = {∅} as with Peano. But his first postulate, "0 is a number" is discarded along with the Axiom of Extension. How can 0 be a thing if it is the absence of a thing? If it represents nothing? 1,2,3,... are concrete. So how do they relate to 0 in any way other than a thing would to the void?
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Geo-Pictoral Representations eliminate the baggage of Cartesian Skepticism which the Axiom of Extension is subject to, but has never been held up to. We now no longer require an extension of birds, tables, planets, etc. for the idea of number. We need no longer to refer to the a posteriori, but only the synthetic a priori realm of Geometry.
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The Geo-Pictoral aesthetic is one of sides and relations to sides. 1 is in relation to itself, 2 in relation to side 1 and side 1+1, etc. ad infinitum.
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The empty set, {∅} = no thing, nothingness. It is not a number. It is, again, a relationary concept.
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{∅} is impossible to imagine save in its categorical seat as an opposite to the imaginable.
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1, the Prime Number, is the first to have a concrete relation- namely, to itself. 1 must use a mirror...
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{∅} is outside of ontology- in the sense that it is anti-ontology.
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{∅} is to Number Theory what -(-p) is to Logic.
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Any use of '{∅}' or '0' is prescriptive.
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Several orchestrations for the functions of addition, subtraction, etc. are obvious if you look at a larger Geo-Pictoral representation, like, say 20. These are far more beautiful than the current conventions. If I didn't find the metaphysics of mathematics so dry, perhaps I would go on with this...
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Every choice determines our kind of death.
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Take the form of a pentagon:
This is human duality:
At once good and evil, light and dark, positive and negative.
Within each is the other...
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Human experience is finite. Thus, so is human thought. For new thought, there must be new experience. We must either break from old archetypes or cast new ones...
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Never doubt the power of intuition as a guide to the journey- especially when you go where you fear...
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Intuition, not reason, is the key to truth.
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Between what is and what should be is choice.
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In the Empyrean, the distinctions between will and fate are erased. One's will is one's fate, one's fate is one's will.
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What is is what should be.
What should be is what is.
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Prescription = description.
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The external is the internal.
The internal is the external.
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The problems of philosophy are in the temporal.
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The answers to the problems of philosophy are in the atemporal.
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There is no moral/prescriptive/atemporal order precisely because there is no a priori order.
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There is a relative factual/descriptive/temporal order precisely because there is a relative a posteriori order.
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There is an a priori/a temporal order in the Empyrean.
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The I says, "there is choice".
The eyes say, "everything is determined".
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What I do not know does not exist.
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The distinction between a priori knowledge and a posteriori knowledge is the cause of our problems.
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The I is the individual and the other.
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The I is the thought and the thing.
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The I is the internal and the external.
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Sometimes it's necessary to knock down an old wall so that we may see what is in the next room.
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The distinction between the I and its extension is thrown out. The I has no nominatum.
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Description depends on what is and prescription on what should be. The I is both.
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Things in themselves do not exist by themselves.
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The world and the other conform to, and do not create, the I.
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Knowledge of objects, of the world, comes only from the I.
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The antinomies result from the distinction between a priori and a posteriori and they evaporate when we part the shroud. Here, in the realm of the I, we operate beyond pure reason and the world. New vision is presented to us...
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The shadow no longer follows the limb but acts on its own...
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Instead of going over the ford, as others, I dive in.
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Systems always fail.
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Truth never changes, but its circumstances do.
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To chant, "there is no a priori order to the world"... to say, "that morality is in the Empyrean"... is alone not enough to conjure Nihilism.
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It is truly a pity that Mathematics rather than Music became the conventional Language of Cosmology. The magnificence of the Universe will never be explained by such a sterile syntax.
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Correct usage's of '=' are uninformative.
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The revolution will be in Ontology first. All else will follow...
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The boundary of philosophy is Ontology. There we invent and do not discover. There we are not dialectic, but utter new words to discribe new things. There we are transcendental and leave the past to the dead. There the paradigm is cast as if of diamond. There, like an artist or god, we revel in the beauty of birth.
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The antecedent of Philosophy is Ontology. The consequent is Metaphysics and Epistemology.
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The consequent of Metaphysics and Epistemology is Morality.
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The consequent of Morality is Political Philosophy and Ethics.
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The gap between the apriori and the aposteriori is experienced as deja vu.
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Religious people see god in the sky. Educated people don't see god anywhere. Enlightened people see god everywhere they look.
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Science is just another religion.
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All life is interconnected through time and space by the ever evolving relationships energy forms with matter.
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We choose the world we live in.
prescriptivus philosophicus
(excerpts from ANTINOMIA)
Close your eyes to see.
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True art is born in the warm womb of the mind's eye. Close
your eyes and imprison your senses in your personal darkness.
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In this sleepy place, in the twilight of consciousness,
in this personal darkness, this is where truth is found.
This is where we are not part of linear time or physical
limitations. This is heaven. This is hell. This is the universal.
This is where we mine the destiny that waits like a seed to manifest.
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Artists and Philosophers have always led the way.
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The pyramids, the car you drive, the shirt you wear, the nuclear bomb,
were all just ideas before made into reality and truly original ideas
come when the tight grip of self is loosened and we fall into the
embrace of our personal darkness.
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Let solipsism be your sun.
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I make the things you see when your eyes are closed.
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Real artists do not record reality, they create reality.
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The perfect art has no audience.
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Habit is the enemy of innovation.
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The universal does not fall to the knees of fashion.
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All human endeavors- just as the endeavors of tribes of ants, schools
of fish and flocks of birds are driven by the universal light that
illuminates the personal darkness.
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What makes a work of art great is not what it reveals, but rather, what it conceals.
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The privilege of the artist is self-absorption.
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The burden of the artist is self-absorption.
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The expression is never as pure as the thought.
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"Practicality" is a word foreign to the artist.
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To live is to create. But the objects of art are meaningless. They are nothing but footprints in the snow left along the journey. As soon as the artist begins to covet his creations, he is looking back. And no matter how great the artist is, the spring will come, and his footprints, along with the snow, will disappear. Better that the artist looks forward into the unknown, and with an ax, clear new ground.
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Creation is more important than imagination.
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Beauty is the highest virtue. It is the greatest
goal of the artist in that true beauty is born only
from a balance of every other virtue.
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The ability to appreciate beauty for its own sake
is a fundamental characteristic that separates
the human condition from the condition of the beast.
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Archeologists often credit the ability to use tools
as the defining characteristic of humanity.
I submit that it is the ability to create art that
heralds the human condition. Other animals
use tools, but no other creates art for art sake.
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The first artist was the first real human.
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Unless one creates art, one is not fully human.
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After the Dadist and Modernist revolutions of
the 20th century, classical definitions of beauty
became obsolete. Clearly, they were absolute before
the revolution, and precipitated it. It is the nature of
philosophy to fail to cast a wide net, woven tightly
enough to capture the evolving nature of
human creation and appreciation.
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True Beauty is timeless. It can bridge any chasm and s
hould be the goal of every culture.
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Although we are at the birth of the 21st century, art has been slowly dying ever since the Dadaists gangbanged it almost 100 years ago. The post-modern era has been little more than the marketing of bad jokes to less than 300 serious curators, collectors and publications. And while I love the irreverence of putting a toilet or blank canvas on a wall and peddling it for five million dollars, in the end, we can do better - both as artist and collectors. What does it really say about museums and collectors who exhibit and own such pieces? At best, they are historians or investors.
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Museums are graveyards.
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Sarcasm and decay have been in vogue for so long, I wonder if anyone can appreciate sincerity and beauty.
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It is far more revolutionary to be sincere in the post-modern world. It is also much more difficult.
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It is easier to desecrate something than to create something.
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Artists and cultures have forgotten the transcendent power of true Beauty.
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Any revolution that does not end in harmony is a failure.
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The difference between feature films and short films is similar to the difference between a novel and a poem. In general, feature films are focused on storytelling. It is rare to find a two-hour film without a clear narrative. Short films are free from the rules of storytelling.
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The best of artists has one foot in the Empyrean and one in the Ackeron.
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Being arrested is currently the best compliment your work can be paid.
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Create in the face of bureaucracy and you are an artist. Let it stop you and you are human.
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The artist creates his own world.
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If the artist finds his or her work haunted by the ghosts of predecessors, it is a duty to excise them.
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Boredom and pretension are signs that the artist's muse has died.
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Philosophy and art are battlegrounds. Words, paint, clay, film, etc. are weapons.
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Anything that takes you away from your gift is a sin.
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There have been no significant leaps in philosophy since the 1920's, and hence, none in science, politics nor the arts since the 1940's.
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The impossible is the goal of anyone of merit.
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Mediocrity is the graveyard of practicality.
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Beauty is the reward of willful romanticism.
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The visionary sees the step after the next one.
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A true artist is not afraid to confront the works of the past. But a great artist transcends them.
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Emotional content is what makes one work better than the next.
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The new art requires new ideas.
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The artist follows Hamlet's: "we defy augury".
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Insanity is a step away from happiness.
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Misguided genius is genius nonetheless.
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Self satisfaction is a hurdle in the journey.
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Love and creation are the sweetest fruit of life.
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Somewhere between compromise and integrity is bitterness.
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Construction is destruction.
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Great expectations lead to great disappointments. Expect nothing and you may find happiness.
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The happy never accomplish anything.
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To explain is to stunt the teacher. To be taught is to impede the student.
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Destiny hates a liar.
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It's a weak man that lets the obstacles of life curve his path. Indeed, a man is only as great as the obstacles he has had to overcome, and how little he has let them stop him.
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Revenge and suicide are not remedies for grief.
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Everyone has a mouth, but none have ears.
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The difference between good and evil is a difference in perspective.
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Respect goes to those who have tried and failed, not those who have only gone so far and given up.
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Genius has as its weighty price love's empty arms.
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The stamp of truth impresses neither fashion, usefulness, nor purpose.
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In doing nothing, one sometimes does more.
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Only two things can stop someone from seeing the truth- inability and pride.
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To push oneself towards insanity is foolish unless it yields sweet fruit. The bitter we find everywhere else.
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Why listen to those who only speak what they've heard and not what they've devined? Why listen to anyone for that matter? To transcend them? That must be the only justifiable reason, for to learn from others is to follow. Read this. Burn it. Move on to your own path.
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Revolution is Evolution.
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Aphorisms are the pearls of expression.
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Pre-constructed arguments have the weak foundation of a directed end. This leads to the assassination of epiphanies opposing that end. And this is the absurd, self-sabotaging lie of most philosophies.
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The most courageous thing we can do is to live by principles and not our natures. It also happens to be the most foolish thing we can do.
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It is the malcontents who spur change.
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New ideas are always greeted with skepticism. Especially within the mind that conceives them.
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It is not how we feel about a person, but rather, how we feel about ourselves when we are with them that either repulses or attracts us to them.
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Do not become a mirror to the world- rather, let it reflect you.
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The predictable and the habitual should be rebelled against even if they happen to be pleasurable- perhaps especially if they are pleasurable. For they can only led to complacency and stagnation.
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The problem with faith is holding on to it.
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Faith is slippery.
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Love is my only religion.
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The insane shall inherit the Earth.
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To assert one's will while dreaming, indicates one's spiritual strength.
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Genius unused breeds insanity.
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A man not honest with himself is not a man.
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We teach what we need to learn.
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Music can't lie.
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Apathy in the face of evil is collaboration with it.
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Philosophy is for those who live it.
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History is for the dead.
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Anyone who understands me will reject me first.
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It is easy to forget those who love you, but not those you love.
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Ironically, pessimism breeds happiness while optimism breeds sadness.
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What is true for and of the individual person is true for and of a group or nation-state.
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Anarchy between individual nation-states can only be eradicated as it is between individual people and groups- through government.
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Take the term 'individual' out of any political theory and apply it to a nation-state and you will see how that theory operates on an international level. This is the litmus test. In all that follows, take 'Individual' to denote any or all of the following: a person, a family, a race of peoples, a tribe, a religious group, a corporation, a city, a province, a state, a country, or a nation-state. You will see how each follows the same principles...
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Liberty is impossible when there is need.
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Where there is self-interest, social justice is impossible.
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Harmony is only possible where there is justice.
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We are not created equal.
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Individuals differ in what they want and in their
ability to obtain what they want. Some are smarter.
Some stronger. Some more creative. Some more attractive,
etc.
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The contradiction between moral equality and factual
inequality is the cause of most social disfunction.
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There is no morality to the world other than the one we create.
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Anarchy operates on the two extremes: to the right we have laissez fair liberalism and to the left we have idealism. The former is nihilistic, the latter, optimistic.
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A politician's priorities are found in his budget.
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Only government can tame politics.
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Peace requires justice. Justice requires law. Law requires government. Therefore, peace requires government.
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No form of government is needed more today than an empowered federation of Nation-States.
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After all the ugliness of politics, war and human greed dies,
what will live on is the grace and beauty we artists have brought.
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A happy ending is no ending.
© 1989-2007, Mark Miremont
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