Life, Meaning, Death

I chose this title because it’s the last three sections of the last chapter of Thomas Nagel’s View From Nowhere. And, because I like it.

I skimmed a story in Harper’s Magazine about the new fangled ‘phenom’ about blogging. Interesting, Microsoft Spellchecker doesn’t recognize phenom, blogging or spellcheck. In another magazine Chatelaine there’s an equally interesting article for idiots about ‘how to blog’. Touching.

Anyway. I guess that was my point exactly.

I went to pull 3 books down from the bookshelf today. I hadn’t read these books in 5-10 years but had fond memories. Except for the aforementioned work, Nagel and The Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha were found. And, Thus Spoke Zarathustra… I don’t know what happened to it. I can’t seem to find it. But, there always is the internet right?

We shall begin and end here for a while.

“From outside we do indeed tend to see most of our pursuits as important only relatively. Watching the human drama is a bit like watching a Little League baseball game: the excitement of the participants is perfectly understandable but one can’t really enter into it.” Nagel. p.217-218

“One’s own self conquered is better than all other people conquered; not even a god could change itself into defeat the victory of a man who has vanquished himself” – the Buddha

“He who has reached the consummation, who does not fear, who is without thirst and without sin; he has broken all the thorns of life – this will be his last body.” – the Buddha

“What is the greatest thing ye can experience? It is the hour of great contempt. The hour in which even your happiness becometh loathsome unto you, and so also your reason and virtue.
The hour when ye say: "What good is my happiness! It is poverty and pollution and wretched self-complacency. But my happiness should justify existence itself!" – Nietzsche p. sec. 4.

“Man is a rope stretched between the animal and the Superman- a rope over an abyss.
A dangerous crossing, a dangerous wayfaring, a dangerous looking-back, a dangerous trembling and halting.
What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not a goal: what is lovable in man is that he is an over-going and a down-going.
I love those that know not how to live except as down-goers, for
they are the over-goers.
I love the great despisers, because they are the great adorers,
and arrows of longing for the other shore”. – Nietzsche p. sec. 4.

Have a great evening.