Human thought is still best described by metaphor, poetry, & other literary devices to express what we do not fully understand. Experience is a matter of sensibility & intuition, of seeing & hearing the significant things, of paying attention at the right moments.
Garry Kasparov
Circumambulate the city of a dreamy Sabbath afternoon. What do you see?–Posted like silent sentinels all around the town, stand thousands upon thousands of mortal men fixed in ocean reveries.
But these are all landsmen; of week days pent up in lath and plaster–tied to counters, nailed to benches, clinched to desks.
How then is this? Are the green fields gone? What do they here? But look! here come more crowds, pacing straight for the water, and seemingly bound for a dive.
Strange! Nothing will content them but the extremest limit of the land; loitering under the shady lee of yonder warehouses will not suffice.
No. They must get just as nigh the water as they possibly can without falling in.
And there they stand–miles of them–leagues. Inlanders all, they come from lanes and alleys, streets and avenues–north, east, south, and west. Yet here they all unite.
Yes, as every one knows, meditation and water are wedded for ever.
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
The shadow of an eagle that had set forth from those high and craggy fastnesses crossed the line of riders below and they looked up to mark it where it rode in that brittle blue and faultless void.
Blood Meridian (1985) by Cormac McCarthy
Woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head. Found my way downstairs and drank a cup and looking up I noticed I was late. Found my coat and grabbed my hat, made the bus in seconds flat. Found my way upstairs and had a smoke, and somebody spoke and I went into a dream.
A Day in the Life by The Beatles
Heaven & earth do not unite… Thus the superior man falls back upon his inner worth in order to escape the difficulties.
The I Ching or Book of Changes
Guard yourself against mistakes when you see evil people.
The I Ching or Book of Changes
La República de California was an unrecognized breakaway state from Mexico, that for 25 days in 1846 militarily controlled an area north of San Francisco.
Mexican officials had been concerned about a coming war with the United States and the growing influx of Americans into California. The rebellion was covertly encouraged by US Army Captain John Frémont.
“California Republic” appeared only on the flag the insurgents raised in Sonoma. It indicated their aspiration of forming a republican government under their control.
The Bear Flag Revolt and whatever remained of the “California Republic” ceased to exist on July 9 when US Navy Lieutenant Joseph Revere raised the United States flag in front of the Sonoma Barracks and sent a second flag to be raised at Sutter’s Fort.
Hobbes describes life as “nasty, brutish, and short.”
Keltner believes evolution has given Homo sapiens emotions like gratitude, joy, amusement, and compassion.
On the Science of Awe by Mark Leviton Thomas