Sad Inspiring Philosophy Quotes

Jun 112009
 

1.

Life is far too short to dwell in the failings of yesteryear. My philosophy is to love those who love you, forget those who you can live without, and believe that life is a journey pitted with obstacles which, especially through failure, make us stronger and more appreciative of what we have accomplished. Although tomorrow may look bleak, it is a new day with new opportunity to make a greater change for the future. The greatest flaw we can ever make is believing progress starts with the first step. It starts when we decide to make a difference, however small it may be. We need to look to the future, never forgetting our past, and live for today, whilst still respecting what tomorrow might bring.

- Andrew Crichton

2.

There are as many nights as days, and the one is just as long as the other in the year’s course.
Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word ‘happy’ would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.

-Carl Jung

3.

I’ve developed a new philosophy – I only dread one day at a time.

- Charles Schultz

4.

You can choose to be happy or sad and whichever you choose that is what you get. No one is really responsible to make someone else happy, no matter what most people have been taught and accept as true

- Sidney Madwed

5.

A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.

- John Stuart Mill

6.

The walls we build around us to keep out the sadness also keep out the joy.

- Jim Rohn

7.

Philosophy will clip an angel’s wings, conquer all mysteries by rule and line, empty the haunted air, the gnome mine and unweave a rainbow.

- Keats

8.

Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.

- Bertrand Russel

9.

Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.

- Helen Keller

10.

Nobody really cares if you’re miserable, so you might as well be happy.

- Cynthia Nelms

11.

The happiest is the person who suffers the least pain; the most miserable who enjoys the least pleasure.

- Jean Jacques Rousseau

12.

Many who seem to be struggling with adversity are happy; many, amid great affluence, are utterly miserable.

- Tacitus

A Struggle against Oppression, the Freedom of Expressive Opinion.

Jan 212009
 

There is a struggle of power. Society has become marginalised, oppressed and limited to an inescapable realm of misery, impairment and self-humiliation. The proletariat suffers upon the advertent control of the boujoise, and although the proletariat struggles to defame the corruption of the all-powerful regulator, it is a vain attempt. Outside a war rages. The struggle against oppression and the right to express concern is diminishing. Defamation, vilification, shame and slanderous accusation stands at the forefront of modern freedoms and liberty itself. The modern state is now controlled by defamation laws, which although protects individuals with funds to defend supposed false accusation, it has silenced the truth and subverted justice to only those who can pay for its luxury.

With the overwhelming convergence of new media technologies upon society, representing unparallel difficulty suppressing defamation, the task to monitor vilifying and slanderous acquisitions seems futile if not derisory. The implications to control and eliminate such defamatory publishing is unable to be refuted, but in an age where nearly everyone has the capability to employ defamatory articles, the ability to regulate a nation seems impracticable. As seen in the high court case of Dow Jones v Gutnick, free-speech advocates, and those who publish via the internet, need to be aware that although an article may be published overseas, a person defamed can still bring action in their own Australian state. Similarly asserted by Justice Hedican in Victoria, internet publishing should be equal to other forms of media publication. Thousands of people within a particular discipline or with a formal interest, for example, may read a blog published in America about philosophy. In the blog, an article relating to a recent concept could be described as fallacious, absurd or could be ridiculed. Due to the audience being likeminded, it could cause defamation on a far greater scale compared to a newspaper targeting a more diverse audience. Which, although it is fine if an individual has the resources to dispute allegations, for those without copious amounts of money at hand, and the inability to find the individual who has defamed them, it is a growing concern for whistle blowers and those who wish to uphold freedom of information and expression to have a voice which won’t be silenced.

Read full Article.

Silencing the already Silenced Voices.

Jan 172009
 

For much of the 19th century, the United States was involved in a struggle over a human right more significant than the freedom of press – the freedom of every individual from slavery. While America remained preoccupied by its civil war, John Stuart Mill worked on his conception of freedom of expression, publishing On Liberty, in 1859. Focussing on civil rights, such as, freedom of association, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, and freedom of speech, it motioned towards due process and the right to a fair trial, the entitlement to own property and respect of individual privacy. These social responsibilities and rights are often taken as subjective norms, as well as permeated normality.

The scope of Mills essay is subjected upon Social Liberty and the ability that governments can legitimately reserve power over society and the individual. Mill predicts that this question will become increasingly important because some humans have entered a more civilized stage of development, which presents “new conditions” under which issues of individual liberty must be addressed.

Concordantly, the concept of liberty is attributed to ancient Greece, Rome and England, whereby liberty implied “protection against the tyranny of political rulers,” and rulers and subjects were often thought to have a necessarily antagonistic relationship. The leader did not govern by the will of his people, and while his power was seen as necessary, it was also considered dangerous….

Read full Article.

If you were given a choice between contentment and reason, which would you choose?

Feb 112006
 

Here is the story of Lily the chicken:

Once upon a time, there lived a chicken named Lily. She lived on a farm surrounded by hundreds of other chickens and was fed, watered and sheltered daily by a caring farmer. In her free time, Lily was able to socialise and enjoy all aspects of her life. She felt content and happy. Although she had little freedom, she was only a chicken and this life was all she had ever known.

It was Christmas Eve and Lily was eating her delicious dinner when she thought to herself about all the advantages of her life and how the farmer had always looked after her. The next day was Christmas. When Lily came for her breakfast, the farmer grabbed her and chopped her head off.

Lily was content with life because she was naive. She had contentment but lacked reason. If she had reasoned why the farmer was feeding her so graciously and nurturing her, she would have concluded that she was going to be killed.

Contentment leads to happiness, and reason often to depression. An earlier post describes my view on the attainment of happiness. If you read this you will further understand why reason is more imperative than contentment.