Philosophy

People go on and on, creating big problems out of nothing (OSHO)

One woman hypochondriac died...

22 April, 2022

The art of comedy achieves deep penetration in social consciousness (ALAIN DE BOTTON).

In his The Joke and Its Relation to the Unconscious (1905), Freud wrote, ‘A joke will allow us to exploit something ridiculous in our enemy which we could not, on account of obstacles in the way, bring forward openly or consciously.’ Through jokes, Freud continued,...

21 April, 2022

Democritus (460-370 BC) (SIMON CRITCHLEY)

For some, "the prince of philosophers." Yet, Plato never mentions him and there is a rumour that has circulated down the ages that he wanted to burn Democritus' books. Very sadly, Plato's wish was unwittingly fulfilled by the disasters of history and very little of...

20 April, 2022

What is power? (JIDDU KRISHNAMURTI)

Questioner: What is power? Krishnamurti: There is mechanical power, the power produced by the internal combustion engine, by steam, or by electricity. There is the power that dwells in a tree, that causes the sap to flow, that creates the leaf. There is the power to...

19 April, 2022

Five interminable, humiliating and painful minutes (ZYGMUNT BAUMAN)

Thomas Leoncini: The first testimonial comes from Michele, who’s now thirty years old: I still have nightmares. I was very shy and solitary. Three of my classmates locked me in the toilets and started to beat me up, first with their hands, and then with...

18 April, 2022

That man missed Buddha continuously for forty years. (OSHO)

Buddha passed through a village many times in his forty years of traveling. One man used to come; he would listen for a few minutes then get up and go away. And this had become a habit; he never listened to Buddha for the whole...

17 April, 2022

Money is therefore a promise in search of wisdom. (PASCAL BRUCKNER)

Money is one of those things that seem obvious but aren’t. It is truly the commoner of life, as crude as it is burdensome. It seems to go without saying but remains a mystery in broad daylight. The French word for money (“argent”) is marvelously...

15 April, 2022

THE FOX AND THE GRAPES (AESOP)

The Fox & the Grapes A Fox one day spied a beautiful bunch of ripe grapes hanging from a vine trained along the branches of a tree. The grapes seemed ready to burst with juice, and the Fox's mouth watered as he gazed longingly at them. The...

14 April, 2022

Then comes Saturn, at about the age of sixty, a weight as of lead, dull and slow. (ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER)

A man's individual career is not, as Astrology wishes to make out, to be predicted from observation of the planets; but the course of human life in general, as far as the various periods of it are concerned, may be likened to the succession of...

13 April, 2022

Why do news organizations focus so much on the darkness? (ALAIN DE BOTTON)

Why do news organizations focus so much on the darkness? Why so much grimness and so little hope? Perhaps they think that their audiences are by nature a little too innocent, sheltered and pleased with themselves and therefore very much in need of being taught...

12 April, 2022