At another time chancing upon an old friend whom he had not seen for a long while, Socrates greeted him thus.  Socrates: "What quarter of the world do you hail from, Eutherus?" The other answered: "From abroad, just before the close of the war; but at present from the city itself. You see, since we have been denuded of our possessions across the frontier, and my father left me nothing in Attica, I must needs bide at home, and provide myself with the necessaries of life by means of bodily toil, which seems preferable to begging from another, especially as I have no security on which to ..read more

Q: Why do religions degenerate?  A: The rainwater is pure, but becomes soiled according to the medium it passes through. If the roof and the pipe are dirty, the discharge is dirty.  ..read more

Why should I not reckon this good among the primary goods, and deem it in so far greater than those other goods which are unattended by danger and have made no trial of fortune, as it is a rarer thing to have overcome a foe with a hand lost than with a hand armed?  "What then?" you say; "shall you desire this good for yourself?"  Of course I shall. For this is a thing that a man cannot achieve unless he can also desire it. Should I desire, instead, to be allowed to stretch out my limbs for my slaves to massage, or to have a woman, or a man changed into the likeness of ..read more

Remember that this which pulls the strings is the thing which is hidden within: this is the power of persuasion, this is life, this, if one may so say, is man.  In contemplating yourself never include the vessel which surrounds you and these instruments which are attached about it. For they are like to an axe, differing only in this, that they grow to the body.  For indeed there is no more use in these parts without the cause which moves and checks them than in the weaver's shuttle, and the writer's pen, and the driver's whip.  —Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 10.38  IMAG ..read more

A Bhikshu who has entered his empty house, and whose mind is tranquil, feels a more than human delight when he sees the law clearly.  As soon as he has considered the origin and destruction of the elements of the body, he finds happiness and joy which belong to those who know the immortal.  ..read more

The Continence of Scipio, sometimes called the Clemency of Scipio, is a wonderful story reflecting a distinctly Roman view of the virtues. The oldest surviving account is in Livy, and it eventually became a common theme in art, literature, and music during the Renaissance.  Publius Cornelius Scipio, later known as Scipio Africanus, commanded a Roman army in Spain during the Second Punic War (218-201 BC). The Roman soldiers captured a beautiful woman, who was engaged to the Celtiberian prince, Allucius, an ally of the Carthaginians.  She was presented to Scipio, perhaps because the ..read more

We therefore find mentioned, even by Epicurus, those goods which one would prefer not to experience; which, however, because circumstances have decided thus, must be welcomed and approved and placed on a level with the highest goods. We cannot say that the good which has rounded out a happy life, the good for which Epicurus rendered thanks in the last words he uttered, is not equal to the greatest. Allow me, excellent Lucilius, to utter a still bolder word: if any goods could be greater than others, I should prefer those which seem harsh to those which are mild and alluring, and should p ..read more

The thought of suicide was entertained by nearly everyone, if only for a brief time. It was born of the hopelessness of the situation, the constant danger of death looming over us daily and hourly, and the closeness of the deaths suffered by many of the others.  From personal convictions which will be mentioned later, I made myself a firm promise, on my first evening in camp, that I would not "run into the wire." This was a phrase used in camp to describe the most popular method of suicide— touching the electrically charged barbed-wire fence.  It was not entirely difficult for me ..read more

The more promptly bestowed, the greater the kindness.  IMAGE: Johannes Stradanus, The Charity of St. Nicholas (c. 1580)  ..read more

There is something about the sound of this track that represents everything I loved about the early 1980's, even as the period was quite frustrating for me in so many other ways. The message of the lyrics, however, did not really sink in for me until a good decade later. It took me some time to appreciate how difficult it can be to think for ourselves, and how easily we define our own identities through others.  It is good to have teachers, mentors, even heroes and gurus, and indeed, we can hardly walk through this world without being moved and inspired, for better or for worse, by ..read more