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HOME
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- Interests
- Economics
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- Philosophy
- Misc
Interests
This will eventually be the jump off page for
extensive discourses on all of these subjects.
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Politics:
The sad state of affairs the world is in (or is it?).
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"America
is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without
civilization in between." Oscar
Wilde (1854 - 1900)
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| Politics is supposed to be the second oldest
profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close
resemblance to the first."
- Ronald
Reagan (1911 - )
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The Outdoors: Once almost a backpacker,
mountain climber, kayaker, and then I got married and moved to Florida
*sigh*
| "One cannot fix one's eyes on the
commonest natural production without finding food for a rambling
fancy." Jane
Austen (1775 - 1817), Mansfield Park |
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Philosophy:
Life without consideration, what a worthless existence!
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"The
point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as not to seem
worth stating, and to end with something so paradoxical that no one will
believe it." Bertrand
Russell, The Philosophy of Logical Atomism
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"What is the first
business of one who practices philosophy? To get rid of self-conceit.
For it is impossible for anyone to begin to learn that which he thinks
he already knows." Epictetus,
Discourses
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Martial Arts:
Four years of Dragon Style Kung Fu beginning at age 12 began
my fascination with the Eastern Philosophies and Buddhism as my choice in
credo, if not religion. Probably the best martial art after Aikido,
which I hope to take someday.
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History: How can we have any idea where
we are, or are going, without knowing where we have been? It is a travesty
that our school system ruins this subject. Yet another example of:
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"Why
do children have a burning thirst for knowledge until they enter the
school system?" - unknown
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"History
never looks like history when you are living through it."
John
W. Gardner (1912 - ),
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"History
is the witness that testifies to the passing of time; it illumines
reality, vitalizes memory, provides guidance in daily life and brings us
tidings of antiquity." Cicero
(106 BC - 43 BC), Pro Publio Sestio
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Science: Fascinated with science and
physics in my childhood, I love technology and gadgets. It's difficult
to grasp how rapidly the pace of innovation in every field is accelerating.
Few can keep up with even a small part of it, but I'm trying!
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"There are in fact two
things, science and opinion; the former begets knowledge, the latter
ignorance." Hippocrates
(460 BC - 377 BC), Law
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"The
effort to understand the universe is one of the very few things that
lifts human life a little above the level of farce, and gives it some of
the grace of tragedy." Steven
Weinberg (1933 - )
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"The
important thing in science is not so much to obtain new facts as to
discover new ways of thinking about them." Sir
William Bragg (1862 - 1942)
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Economics:
I never would have thought this dry and boring subject would ever interest
me, but after studying Friedrich A. Hayek, I have come to realize it is an
integral part of the foundation of politics and Liberty itself.
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"All Governments, whatever
their political complexion, are at present willy-nilly in the grip of
natural forces which can only be dealt with by a degree of intelligence
of which mankind hitherto has shown little evidence."
- Friedrich A. Hayek
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Literature: The Great Works are on my list
as I love all great words, but alas, there is so little time.
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"Many
brave men lived before Agamemnon; but all are overwhelmed in eternal
night, unwept, unknown, because they lack a sacred poet."
Horace
(65 BC - 8 BC), Odes
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"One
ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see
a fine picture, and if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable
words." Johann
Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)
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"The
poet judges not as a judge judges but as the sun falling around a
helpless thing." Walt
Whitman (1819 - 1892)
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Business: I love business and have spent so
long studying it. Fast Company, Fortune, Business 2.0, Executive
Biographies. I love reading about how companies become successful, it
seems so simple, why do most keep making the same asinine mistakes?
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"Success
in business requires training and discipline and hard work. But if
you're not frightened by these things, the opportunities are just as
great today as they ever were." David
Rockefeller (1915 - )
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"In
the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the
windshield." Warren
Buffett (1930 - ) (long may he live!)
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"The
chief business of the American people is business." Calvin
Coolidge (1872 - 1933), Speech in Washington, Jan. 17, 1925
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Everything else: There's
little I don't like or have some interest in, life is too short and the world is
too full. I wish I had a thousand years. I like almost every
category of music and movies.
Finally
he released the young man, and waded back to dry land. Then Socrates questioned
the man. "What did you most want just now?"
The young man replied, "Air."
"When you want knowledge as much as you just wanted air, you shall have
it."
-Socrates
I've
always wanted knowledge, but now I need it - as if it were air.
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