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Aristotle:

Aristotle described the ideal man as one who

…does not expose himself needlessly to danger, since there are few things for which he
cares sufficiently; but he is willing in great crisis, to give even his life, knowing that under
certain conditions it is not worthwhile to live…to confer kindness is a mark of superiority.
He does not take part in public displays…He is open in his dislikes and preferences, he
talks and acts frankly…He is never fired with admiration….he cannot live in complaisance
with others, except it be a friend…he is not fond of talking….It is no concern of his that he
should be praised, or that others should be blamed. He does not speak evil of others, even
of his enemies, unless it be to themselves. His carriage is sedate, his voice deep, his
speech measured, he is not given to hurry, for he is concerned about only a few things; he
is not prone to vehemence, for he thinks nothing is very important. He bears the accidents
of his life with dignity and grace, making the best of his circumstances like a skillful
general who marshals his limited forces with all the strategy of war. He is his own best
friend and takes delight in privacy, whereas a man of no virtue or ability is his own enemy
and is afraid of solitude.

Complaisance-willing to please others or accept there behavior without protest

Vehemence-showing strong feeling

Sedate-calm and unhurried

Solitude-state of being alone

Carriage-manner of carrying the head and body; bearing: the carriage of a


soldier.

Aristotle:

Happiness represented activity, the quest for excellence. In order to do things and do

them well, to prosper and to flourish, certain skills were needed. Excellence led to

success. Whether in pursuit of moral virtue or in the exercise of reason, happiness was in

a life of activity or activities that were undertaken for their own sake. Happiness, for

Aristotle, was not a state of mind or feeling, but referred to the quality of life in the

organized and active expression of one’s powers and capacities. In other words, it was

defined in terms of a function in accordance with a person’s virtue or excellence.

Happiness was identified with Good, identified as the object of human endeavor.
The human brain consists of a large number (approximately 10 power
11) of highly interconnected elements (approximately 10 power 4
connections per element) called neurons.

The arrangement of neurons and the strength of connections establish


the function of the neural network.

Some of the neural structure is defined at birth. Other parts are


developed through learning, as new connections are made and others
waste away.

This development is most noticeable in the early stages of life. For


example, it has been shown that if a young cat is denied use of one eye
during a critical window of time, it will never develop normal vision in
that eye.

In the later stages of life the changes in the neural network consist
mainly of strengthening and weakening of the connections.

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by
narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards
perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into
the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by Thee to ever-widening
thought and action -
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country
awake.
--- by Rabindranath Tagore

It's like you come onto this planet


with a crayon box.

Now, you may get the 8-pack,


you may get the 16-pack.

But it's all in what you do with the crayons,


the colors that you're given.

Don't worry about drawing within


the lines or coloring outside the lines.

I say color outside the lines.


Color right off the page.

Don't box me in.

We're in motion to the ocean.


We are not landlocked,

I'll tell ya that.

--Waking Life.

Things that did not achieve closure will haunt you. --- Zeigarnik effect

THE ALCHEMIST

When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that
person to realize his dream.

You must understand that love never keeps a man from pursuing his destiny. If he
abandons that pursuit, it’s because it wasn’t true love…. The love that speaks the
Language of the World.

"Purity" in the sense of ignorance and suppressed curiosity is a highly


dangerous state of mind. And such purity in alliance with prudery and
defensive hypocrisy makes any honest discussion or essential
readjustment of our institutions and habits extremely difficult.

The Mind in the Making -- James Harvey Robinson

http://www.fullbooks.com/The-Mind-in-the-Making1.html

True Power

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful
beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask
ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are
you NOT to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure
around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not
just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we consciously
give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our
presence automatically liberates others.

-- Nelson Mandela 1994 Inaugural Speech

"The criminal and the soldier at least have the virtue of being against something or for
something in a world where many people have learned to accept a kind of grey
nothingness, to strike an unreal series of poses in order to be considered normal.... It's
difficult to say who is engaged in the greater conspiracy--the criminal, the soldier, or us."

--Stanley Kubrick
One effect of moving an animal from the wild to a
cage is to remove it from a rich and varied environment,
this may cause it to indulge in one activity to an abnormal
degree to compensate for other activities that are no longer possible.

he said: "I do not believe in the God of theology who rewards good
and punishes evil. My God created laws that take care of that. His
universe is not ruled by wishful thinking, but by immutable laws."

 Einstein

The next ball that you are going to bowl or field is the most important part of your life ~
Adam Gilchrist

"It is not in the nature of man--nor of any living entity--to start out by
giving up, by spitting in one's own face and damning existence; that
requires a process of corruption whose rapidity differs from man to
man. Some give up at the first touch of pressure; some sell out; some
run down by imperceptible degrees and lose their fire, never knowing
when or how they lost it ... Yet a few hold on and move on, knowing
that that fire is not to be betrayed, learning how to give it shape,
purpose and reality. But whatever their future, at the dawn of their
lives, men seek a noble vision of man's nature and of life's potential ...
It is a sense of enormous expectation, the sense that one's life is
important, that great achievements are within one's capacity, and that
great things lie ahead." [Ayn Rand, Intro to Fountainhead, 1968]

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