Category Archives: Philosophy

“The Past” by Ralph Waldo Emerson [w/ Audio]

Posted on by
Reply 
The debt is paid,
 The verdict said,
 The Furies laid,
 The plague is stayed,
 All fortunes made;
 Turn the key and bolt the door,
 Sweet is death forevermore.
 Nor haughty hope, nor swart chagrin,
 Nor murdering hate, can enter in.
 All is now secure and fast;
 Not the gods can shake the Past;
 Flies-to the adamantine door
 Bolted down forevermore.
 None can re-enter there, --
 No thief so politic,
 No Satan with a royal trick
 Steal in by window, chink, or hole,
 To bind or unbind, add what lacked,
 Insert a leaf, or forge a name,
 New-face or finish what is packed,
 Alter or mend eternal Fact.

Evolution [Free Verse]

Posted on by
2 
Anywhere copies are made, 
   but copies aren't exact,
      selection will take place.

Some erroneous copies will 
    be more beloved than others.
      Some errors will propagate.
      Some errors will die out.

Thus is language,
   thus is chemistry,
   and thus is life.

Raising Chaos [Free Verse]

Posted on by
2 
Raise chaos:
   That's the job of intelligent life,
      to make nice & orderly things
      so they can crack and shatter
      and eventually end up pulverized
      to dust --
   A fine, granular dust that will blow
      across the universe.

First, the bowl must be made:
   Some potter must shape and glaze
      and fire it with care,
   Turning sandwiches into art... 
      and waste heat --
         entropy slow and fast.

All so someone can crack or chip it
   (with ease and lack of intention,)
   starting it on a path to being sand
   grains a world away.

“To a Marsh Hawk in Spring” by Henry David Thoreau [w/ Audio]

Posted on by
Reply 
There is health in thy gray wing,
 Health of nature's furnishing.
 Say, thou modern-winged antique,
 Was thy mistress ever sick?
 In each heaving of thy wing
 Thou dost health and leisure bring,
 Thou dost waive disease and pain
 And resume new life again.

FIVE WISE LINES [January 2025]

Posted on by
Reply

“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, does not go away.”

Philip k. dick

“The Wu and the Yue peoples hate each other. But in the same boat in a storm, they work together like left and right hands.”

SunZi in The ART of War

“Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life – and travel – leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks – on your body or on your heart – are beautiful. Often, though, they hurt.”

anthony bourdain

What allows great kings and generals to win, more frequently than ordinary men, is foreknowledge.
Foreknowledge cannot be attained by spirits or deduced or calculated.”

Sunzi in The ART of war

“Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”

T. S. Eliot

BOOKS: “Confucianism: A Very Short Introduction” by Daniel K. Gardner

Posted on by
2
Confucianism: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)Confucianism: A Very Short Introduction by Daniel K. Gardner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site – OUP

This is a brief guide to Confucianism from the early life of Confucius (孔子 -Kǒngzǐ) to the ups and downs the philosophy experienced in the twentieth century. It has chapters exploring the system’s thinking with respect to personal development as well as with respect to governance and also discusses how later thinkers (most notably Mencius and Xunzi) expanded on Confucius’s ideas — but also created schisms. The book examines the laudable elements of the philosophy such as its sanction of benevolence among leaders, but also its less laudable elements such as its unenlightened views on women and what they are capable of [and, of course, the many ideas in between that could be seen in varied lights.)

As with other books in this series, it has a few graphics as well as a bibliography and further reading section.

I found this book to be readable, well-organized, and of a level appropriate for its intended purpose. I’d highly recommend it for individuals looking for a concise introduction to Confucianism.

View all my reviews

“Song of the Open Road” (15 of 15) by Walt Whitman [w/ Audio]

Posted on by
Reply 
Allons! the road is before us!
 It is safe -- I have tried it -- my own feet have
   tried it well -- be not detain'd!

Let the paper remain on the desk unwritten,
   and the book on the shelf unopen'd!
 Let the tools remain in the workshop! let
   the money remain unearn'd!
 Let the school stand! mind not the cry of 
   the teacher!
 Let the preacher preach in his pulpit! let the
   lawyer plead in the court, and the judge
   expound the law.

Camerado, I give you my hand!
 I give you my love more precious than
   money,
 I give you myself before preaching or law;
 Will you give me yourself? will you come 
   travel with me?
 Shall we stick by each other as long as we
   live?

PROMPT: Favorite Animal

Posted on by
1
Daily writing prompt
What is your favorite animal?
View all responses

I’m not sure whether the intention is to determine one’s favorite species of animal or one’s favorite particular individual animal. I’ll presume the former as the latter would turn it into a “Which of your pets (or children — for those who count humans among the animal kingdom) do you love best?” type of question — which is awkward to ask anyone with whom one is not on intimate terms.

At any rate, I’ve come to think of assigning favorites as a bad habit of lazy minds, intended to negate the need to actively observe and to see the beauty and brilliance of whatever stands before one at any given moment. [It’s part of a vast array of patterns people develop to be as cognitively disengaged as can be managed.] So, I don’t have a favorite species of animal, but aardvark does come first in the dictionary, if not in my heart.

[Incidentally, when I had multiple pets, I did have a favorite, and — perhaps tellingly — it was the one whose personality was least like my own.]

“Song of the Open Road” (14 of 15) by Walt Whitman [w/ Audio]

Posted on by
Reply 
Allons! through struggles and wars!
 The goal that was named cannot be
   countermanded.

Have the past struggles succeeded?
 What has succeeded? yourself? your nation?
   Nature?
 Now understand me well -- it is provided in
   the essence of things that from any
   fruition of success, no matter what, shall
   come forth something to make a greater
   struggle necessary.

My call is the call of battle, I nourish active
   rebellion,
 He going with me must go well arm'd,
 He going with me goes often with spare
   diet, poverty, angry enemies, desertions.

BOOKS: 三字经 by 王应麟 [“Three Character Classic” by Wang Yinglin]

Posted on by
Reply
三字经三字经 by 章炳麟
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Available online — Project Gutenberg

This is a Confucian primer written in lines of three characters. It’s a children’s book in the sense that it’s aimed at children, but not necessarily with respect to being presented in a manner most conducive to childhood learning. (While it’s concise, the material isn’t presented in an interesting or memorable form. i.e. It’s intended for brute force rote memorization.)

The book consists of five sections, ranging between twenty-four and one hundred and six lines (72 to 318 characters per chapter.) The first introduces Confucian virtues. The second offers a broad overview of classics of Chinese philosophy. The third section lists the dynasties of China. The penultimate section describes ideal behavior from a Confucian perspective. The last, and briefest, section is largely a pep talk on studying hard.

As someone learning Mandarin Chinese, it’s interesting to see how sentences are formed in this sparse format, and this text offers insight into Chinese history and philosophy, in addition to providing a good early reader.

If you are interested in learning elementary Confucianism or you’re learning Chinese and looking for short and simple texts for reading, I’d recommend one look into the Three Character Classic.

View all my reviews