Lately I am digging this Kafka stuff. Maybe it's because i'm wading in existentialism up to my rear end.. but hey. Anyways, I think more people should read philosophy in the world. So many people are just being fed words and ideals and not taking the time to realize what they mean, and to ask the bigger questions. But I am sure the lot of you here are advid philosophers! Passioneers need to be, I am thinking. So I thought it would be fun for everyone to post their own "philosophies" on life here. You can quote your favourite philosophers, or tell of a book you love to read. Or, better yet.. explain how you think the whole big picture ( or lack thereof ) works.

Cool idea PT, although I suddenly feel like i've just been assigned a philosophy paper.... :wink:

Will give this some thought (appropriately enough) before I post.

...jim

I drink, therefore I am. :P

I hate Descartes, hah..

Hi there, long time reader, first time poster...

My favourite quote is an old Socrates staple:

"I know nothing more than I know nothing else."

Wisest man in Athens indeed.

Jeff

I believe it was confucious who said something like this...

"The more you know, the more you realize how little you know"

I love it!


~ng

[quote:8e44dbbdd2="preciousthings"]Lately I am digging this Kafka stuff.[/quote:8e44dbbdd2]

NO WAY! I was just reading Kafka right now... very unusual; confusing; creepy; depressing...

Nice.

[quote:5d105a2376="Willy the Bum"][quote:5d105a2376="preciousthings"]Lately I am digging this Kafka stuff.[/quote:5d105a2376]

NO WAY! I was just reading Kafka right now... very unusual; confusing; creepy; depressing...

Nice.[/quote:5d105a2376]

Ohhhhh yeah. it's not exactly the stuff you read for getting yourself ready for a night on the town. He was an unusual man.. but it is food for thought.

I am one for moral relativism ... and if that makes me a bad person then so be it

A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items on the desk in front of him. When the final student was seated he picked up a large and empty glass bottle and proceeded to fill it with rocks... about 2" in diameter.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

He then picked up a box of pebbles and added them to the jar, shaking it lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks. "Is the jar filled now?"

Yes, the students said.

But then he picked up a bag of sand and poured it into the bottle. The sand filled in everything else. Once more he asked if it was full and after some thinking they said that it was.

The professor then took 2 cans of beer from a bag at the side of the desk and opening them both, poured their entire contents into the jar.

The students roared at this demonstration.

After the laughter subsided the professor spoke: "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things in your life; your family, your partner, your health, your children... things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter... like your job, your house, your car.

The sand is everything else. The small stuff.

If you put the sand into the jar first there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, rewire the lamp.

Take care of the rocks first...the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

After the impact of what he had said settled one of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented.

"I'm glad you asked. It just goes to prove that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of beers."

That's great jim....I got this as an e-mail forward a year ago, and have kept it whenever I need to have my spirits lifted. Along those lines, one of my recent favourite quotes is "Conquer yourself rather than the world"

[quote:0b97ab0ba7="joleary"]"I'm glad you asked. It just goes to prove that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of beers."[/quote:0b97ab0ba7]

HAHAHAHAH! Quaint!

Nicely said, joleary... nicely said.

...I'm thirsty. :roll:

[quote:d13273eb21="Willy the Bum"]Nicely said, joleary... nicely said.

...I'm thirsty. :roll:[/quote:d13273eb21]

LOL, somehow i just knew you'd appreciate that little pearl of wisdom willie.
cheers


...jim

that's great jim!

I'm not knowledgable in this field, only having read a book on Btvs and Philsophy and part way through Sophie's World but just speculating on the ole greek stuff I feel that we can't have just come out of blackness one day there has to be some greater good being served here by letting the world exist. It's like, life. There would be no life; there would be no anything had there not been something. I mean, it's impossible to speculate if you don't there is anything out there, yes? Nature's beasts are always at our side, hinting us but we can't decrypt it. Humans are always making up new things, and it's like that secret game. One person whispers ''Come over to the sweet ones baby'' and the 20th person heres: ''Bump up that spammy thread.'' Misinformation, it's a strange thing. And there's also a perception issue on how people see the world. I'm always afraid what I don't know. Or what people know less/more than I. How do we know if we have a sore throat? Or a migraine? We're just telling ourself we do aren't we? No proper diagnosis. I mean, the doctor can't be an authority can he? He only learned it from someone before him. Just guesses. And what about english? How do we know we speak the correct words? ... I marvel at life.

"Have little thought of self and as less desires as possible."
-Lao Tzu

If it is true, then I must be in terrible trouble with my life. That quote's really getting to me 'cause I always tend to get distracted while doing for myself all the time. Here's another:

"A wise man has no desires."
-Lao Tzu

My friends always tells me how wise I am, but to me, I'm not that much of a wise person, even though I tend not to focus on useless things, it's still get to me. Although I'm not becoming religious, I enjoy the philosophy of Taoism, espcially Lao Tzu's [i:115a5118e4]Tao Te Ching[/i:115a5118e4], which I'm reading now...