On peace

Peace is a small period between wars. Peace of mind is a tiny instant during normal life.

George S. Patton

No poor bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making other bastards die for their country.

Nature vs. Humanity

Reason is futile.
You cannot control your fate.
You will die!

Ambrose "Bitter" Bierce

FAITH, n. Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel.

RELIGION, n. A daughter of Hope and Fear, explaining to Ignorance the nature of the Unknowable.

HOPE, n. Desire and expectation rolled into one.

LIFE, n. A spiritual pickle preserving the body from decay. We live in daily apprehension of its loss; yet when lost it is not missed. The question, "Is life worth living?" has been much discussed; particularly by those who think it is not, many of whom have written at great length in support of their view and by careful observance of the laws of health enjoyed for long terms of years the honors of successful controversy.

EXTINCTION, n. The raw material out of which theology created the future state.

(From The Devil's Dictionary, 1906)

Healthy relationships

Keep your expectations low. It may come as a surprise to you, but not all people will appreciate how clever, insightful and funny you are. If you find anyone who does, then stalk that person in a pathological way. You two were made for each other.

The fish metaphor

Keep your head off water. Unless you are a fish.

Explanation of the metaphor: if you have scales, try to figure out which is the best way to survive. It may not be obvious. If you don't have any scales, despite the differences the same principle applies.

William S. Burroughs

I don't claim that my methods are one hundred percent humane, but I do say, if we can't think of anything quieter, and tidier than that...

Politics for dummies / Politics for the masses

POLITICIANS ARE NOT GODS! Politicians can only promise miracles, it's not their job to actually perform them!

You are unique!

Everybody is special in some way, which means that being special is normal.

Speculation on immortality

Achieving immortality (in the strict physical sense of not dying at all) may be just a matter of waiting to be born after a certain period in time. I proceed to try to convincing you of that. Consider these facts:

• life expectancy has been increasing throughout history - from 30-40 years during the Paleolithic/Neolithic, 40-50 in the Middle Ages, to 70-80 currently (early 21st century);
• increase of life expectancy is correlated with development and technology advances;
• technology is evolving faster and faster nowadays.

It is not far fetched to make the prediction that there may come a period in history when those people born after that time will have a life expectancy such that, when the time arrives for them to die as expected, technology will have evolved to a point where life expectancy will have increased a few more years. Then, after living those extra years, technology will again have evolved a little further to increase life expectancy a little further. Then, after living those extra years, technology will again have evolved a little further to increase life expectancy a little further. Then, after living those extra years, technology will again have evolved a little further to increase life expectancy a little further.
You get the picture. Life goes on and on and on, with life expectancy increasing unboundedly.
Ergo, immortality has been achieved. It is an idea which borrows quite obviously from the Zeno's paradox of Achilles and the tortoise, with Achilles corresponding to Death and the tortoise being what we may call the Technology-Driven Life Expectancy Extension.

(From http://www.beyondpluto.net/)

Now comes the speculative part: from extensive and complex calculations I have made, I can say that the date of 8th July 2037 at 01:24h AM (GMT) may be the point at which people born after that date will on average be immortal, while those born earlier will have to die sooner or later. So, if you are reading this and plan to have children around that date, that's one aspect to consider in your planning.

Aforisms are better taken with a grain of ...

a) distrust.
b) disgust.
c) contempt.
d) all of the above.
e) pepper.

I originally thought of including also the option "hell!!! don't waste my time!!!", but anyone with that attitude wouldn't get past option e) ... so I didn't bother ... (but felt the need to explain it all very thoroughly anyway ...)

On banal writings

Your days are mostly made up of routines, banal thoughts and gestures. Writing banalities like this is just consequential to your ordinary life. Why do we aim for anything else?

On failure

It is usually better to try and fail than to just stay put.
At the least, you can always learn something from your failures.

And, in addition, failure may be your last resort to achieve immortality. Quoting J. K. Galbraith:
"If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error."