Here I go…
-“The things which…are esteemed as the greatest good of all…can be reduced to these three headings: to wit, Riches, Fame, and Pleasure. With these three the mind is so engrossed that it cannot scarcely think of any other good.”
It is not mere vanity, but it is, in essence, the desires behind social productivity.
Fame: A wish to do large things for society’s attention
Riches: To have large amounts of resource in some sort of society.
Pleasure: To enjoy society.
Without the desire for fame and for riches, men would not cast their whole hearts into the system. And much like a casino, the flashy appearance makes a raw deal seem like a gold-mine.
-“Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice.”
Finally, a man who combines the concepts of peace and virtue.
Though virtue, in and of itself, is a form of moral desire, a lover of peace will not be quick to harm any living thing.
What a sustainable idea, this peace is, but men, brimming with weakness, will be harmed greatly by certain minorities and defects.
-“As men’s habits of mind differ, so that some more readily embrace one form of faith, some another, for what moves one to pray may move another to scoff, I conclude… that everyone should be free to choose for himself the foundations of his creed, and that faith should be judged only by its fruits.”
And if one judges only by fruits, then one may be surprised to find out – that some lies bare sweeter fruits than facts.
Nature permits both lie and fact, whilst life mainly wishes for result, and fruits.
-“Men would never be superstitious, if they could govern all their circumstances by set rules, or if they were always favored by fortune: but being frequently driven into straits where rules are useless, and being often kept fluctuating pitiably between hope and fear by the uncertainty of fortune’s greedily coveted favors, they are consequently for the most part, very prone to credulity.”
And if a lust for the future should so happen to destroy the passed, there shall be a greater distortion than superstition. There will be belief, which has a foundation of desperation alone, and is at a constant state of insanity.
-“I have labored carefully, not to mock, lament, or execrate human actions, but to understand them.”
And unaltered facts, understanding without force and distortion, is a resource for the mind of the listener. If that information should be so immoral and pure, that it does not impose action upon the listener, it will also not be found in the common media. The media – is a game for money, and not a quest for truth, by any means.
-“Things could not have been brought into being by God in any manner or in any order different from that which has in fact obtained.”
If the mind puts limit on an infinitely various potentiality…
-“He, who has a true idea, simultaneously knows that he has a true idea, and cannot doubt of the truth of the thing perceived.”
And that thing perceived, is trusted. A lover is trusted, as a lover is a source of potential pleasure, and devoid of danger. A truth is trusted as a reliable means towards obtaining result. In and of itself, truth is man’s hammer for the universal nail. Let us keep watch, especially, of the area in which the nail is being pounded into. Man quite quickly can consume and destroy himself. Like a dry forest and a single flame, an ignorant public and a mentally distorted politician, is a very dangerous set of instance.
-“He that can carp in the most eloquent or acute manner at the weakness of the human mind is held by his fellows as almost divine.”
Surely it is easier to smash a portrait than it is to paint one.
How has the public grown so affectionate towards the process of one man destroying some part of another? Could it be, in their own eternal lacking and degrees of foolishness, that they empathize with the victor, and also imagine themselves destroying a supposed inferior? What an affirmation. Watching and causing the fall of a rival, which is the only threat towards the truth of one’s own deficiency But alas, I can expect no less from a society which has no eugenics. Any sort of mental deformity is allowed into the gene pool of man, and soon after, there shall be a defect in all action, all belief, all emotion, all culture.
-“Surely human affairs would be far happier if the power in men to be silent were the same as that to speak. But experience more than sufficiently teaches that men govern nothing with more difficulty than their tongues.”
As a human body of certain quality – is the greatest treasure and the most powerful resource an earthly man could secure for himself, men have made a habit of trying to gain and control each other, by any and all means. Thus there is constant chatter, and behind it, the will to change the audience towards what is desired by the self. Preaching has become a compulsion, yet nature’s language consists mostly of silence. When one thing is heard, over a thousand other things will be ignored in that very instant.
-“Pride is therefore pleasure arising from a man’s thinking too highly of himself.”
In some cases, but what if man is proud of women, sons and daughters? Pride is often the judgmental version of love. Until fully enlightened, each man needs a degree of pride for the sake of his own potential powers. But I will not ever state that pride is simply one thing. On the contrary, there are infinite kinds of everything. Some healthy, and some, unhealthy.
-“It may easily come to pass that a vain man may become proud and imagine himself pleasing to all when he is in reality a universal nuisance.”
Man’s opposition towards fact. More than a war, it has become a way of life, as fact itself has been pounded into a weapon of subversion and assimilation.
-“It therefore comes to pass that everyone is fond of relating his own exploits and displaying the strength both of his body and his mind, and that men are on this account a nuisance one to the other.”
But if that test should so happen between two persons abundant in self-love and confidence, the test will not be the morbid task which school boys abhor, but instead, the test shall be the professor’s pleasure. Ah yes, salt is frightening to the worm which has thin skin. Men have been ever witty in their aversion, but sometimes, sadly, weaseling too far out of reality itself.
-“Fear cannot be without hope nor hope without fear.”
But fear is not a thought. It is a rush of aversion. In times of defeat, some men, whilst knowing their own doom, acted as if they were not doomed at all. And thus, man, destined for old age and degenerate suffering, can have both joy in his youth and joy in his old age. Fear is a sort of suffering, meant to prevent damage. Though the fear you speak of, is the sort made of reasons, which cannot exist within a well-plotted web of hopelessness and surrender.
Surrender: Whether I love you or not, it’s time to bend over.
-“So long as a man imagines that he cannot do this or that, so long is he determined not to do it: and consequently, so long it is impossible to him that he should do it.”
Some may have noticed – that belief – is the source of human service, and disbelief, the lack of human service. So bend on controlling belief are some men, that they devote their entire life towards proof and persuasion I’d sooner have them plant a garden in the back of their yard, and stitch together their own clothing, but they seem intent upon mass production of appeal. Sad it may be, if man ever finds himself on a plate, between the knife and the fork of the upper class, but why is it that a leader starts a conflict, leading to a war, which is supposed to be a conquest? Perhaps, if he shot it a few times, cut it up, pounded it flat into tender pieces, seasoned it with a few exotic spices, then fried it in his kitchen for a few minutes, a large group of free men could serve to satisfy his mundane hunger. Though the thought of such a dish would thoroughly disgust me, he’s obviously distanced himself from the actual sacrifices that have been made in order to provide the sensation. Only the degenerate person harms the source of human life. Cancer is his biology, in society, and the immune system, not able to stop him, for whatever reaso
When a man consumes flesh, he does not taste death, but instead, tastes only a tiny and overly filtered piece of life.
-“As for the terms good and bad, they indicate no positive quality in things regarded in themselves, but are merely modes of thinking, or notions which we form from the comparison of things with one another. Thus one and the same thing can be at the same time good, bad, and indifferent. For instance music is good to the melancholy, bad to those who mourn, and neither good nor bad to the deaf.”
It is understandable, though, that some men confuse preference with reality, as their whole life revolves around selection.
-“Man is a social animal.”
Having no warm fur, no sharp claws, no snout, no fangs, and no horns (usually), he is left with his wit and his brothers. Two things, wisdom, and love, incredibly vital to man’s entire life. Once lost, life degenerates and is squandered quickly.
-“Men will find that they can prepare with mutual aid far more easily what they need, and avoid far more easily the perils which beset them on all sides, by united force.”
In the family system, and in the genetic pool, if love and wisdom are not fostered, the realization of the ultimate meaning of unity, may go on unknown. Without this ultimate meaning, one is left with a tiny hand full of meanings, quickly shot of, having little benefit on a global scale.
-“Avarice, ambition, lust, etc., are nothing but species of madness.”
I see more than a hint of aversion in you, Spinoza. Lust does not always do harm. Ambition, is rarely harmful. But Avarice, I will not defend. A shot of lust before bed, can be as brisk and refreshing as a cup of coffee in the morning. Of course, you were talking of the harmful instances of lust.
-“He whose honor depends on the opinion of the mob must day by day strive with the greatest anxiety, act and scheme in order to retain his reputation. For the mob is varied and inconstant, and therefore if a reputation is not carefully preserved it dies quickly.”
Word: Representative Democracy.
-“To give aid to every poor man is far beyond the reach and power of every man…Care of the poor is incumbent on society as a whole.”
So many things can cause one to become poor, but only one thing makes one rich. A harmony of means. I’m actually surprised that some persons hate the existence of welfare. But I often agree with your ideas.
-“We feel and know that we are eternal.”
Oops. Where did that come from, and where did it go? My body matter may be eternal, but my form? Maybe not. Is life matter, or is life form? Perhaps, somewhere beyond both form and matter, there is a way that you may eternally be. And good luck with that.
-“If a triangle could speak it would say that God is eminently triangular.”
Hahahah… An ultimate exaggeration of one’s own likeness? Or, an ultimate exaggeration of one’s own desire? Doesn’t man want to gain the most perfect and powerful man? And desperation may offset rationality. Some religions are completely a disease, mixed with a symptom suppressant But do the healthy hate the sick? I suppose some atheists still have their own issues to deal with, and some theists also have their own issues left to deal with.
-“He that can carp in the most eloquent or acute manner at the weakness of the human mind is held by his fellows as almost divine.”
A heartbeat is a far more glorious event than an ad hominem.
What a curse a false image can be upon its host.