George Will & Certitude

George Will, the well-known conservative columnist, recently addressed the University of Miami class of 2005. In his speech, he discusses the inherent dangers of certitude, and the power accidents. In his Newsweek article about his speech to these graduates, he says (excerpted): “The more they appreciate the complexity and improbability of everyday things…the more they […]

Quote of the Day

“Increasingly, our world consists of destinations and goals, with the times and spaces in between them eliminated by jet propulsion. Consequently, there is little satisfaction in reaching the goal, since a life full of endpoints is like trying to abate one’s hunger by eating merely the precise ends of a banana.” — Alan Watts

A Grim Story About Goals

A friend wrote me today with an excerpt from the book Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho. The main character is a prostitute who makes this observation: “Of course, everyone spoke ill of her profession, but, basically, it was all a question of selling her time, like everyone else. Doing things she didn’t want to do, […]

Quote of the Day

“If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve (or save) the world and a desire to enjoy (or savor) the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.” — E. […]