“In the sphere of religion, proofs for the existence of God don't always sway people into belief (the ontological argument of Anselm is notorious for not converting those who think it is sound); intellectual solutions to the problem of evil, however formidable, often fail to soothe the gut-level feel…”— David Shatz, amazon.com
“When a philosopher publishes an article called 'Why There Are No People' (an actual title!), he invites a joke: Whom does he think he's writing for? Whom will he blame if he gets turned down for tenure?”— David Shatz, amazon.com
“That nobody is really a skeptic -- even while philosophizing -- becomes clear if you watch what we philosophers do, not what we say.”— David Shatz, amazon.com
“An assumption that lies behind the questions we religious philosophers get asked is that philosophers internalize the conclusions that their intellects draw -- and live by them. David Hume taught us otherwise. Hume was fascinated by the divorce between philosophy and practical life. In my study, he…”— David Shatz, amazon.com
“I didn't come to religion, I merely managed to hold on to it in conducive circumstances.”— David Shatz, amazon.com
“The real me isn't the person I describe, no the real me is the me revealed by my actions.”— Malcom Gladwell, amazon.com
“I like to say that meditating is the mind’s way of looking in the mirror and cleaning itself up. Except the mind won’t do this on its own volition. Just sit in silence with your eyes closed. Focus on the breath. Give your mind a chance to correct itself. Watch your life slowly transform into somethi…”— Charlie Ambler, medium.com
“Instead of meditating to become better at your job, rid yourself of addiction, or solve some sort of problem in your life, meditate to meditate. The act of meditating every day will carry over into everything else you do. People find themselves magically quitting smoking, drinking less, fighting les…”— Charlie Ambler, medium.com
“Meditation allows us to rearrange the entire mental fabric of living. This makes perfect sense, since it’s been proven to change the brain chemistry of regular practitioners. The mind is able to recalibrate itself and focus on what really matters: present scenery and circumstances.”— Charlie Ambler, medium.com
“The scale of circumstance is not ‘happiness’ and ‘unhappiness’. There are a lot of ‘happy’ people in this world and a lot of ‘unhappy’ people, but this doesn’t matter. Chasing happiness rearranges your life so that you prevent yourself from taking the risks and enduring the suffering that’s likely t…”— Charlie Ambler, medium.com
“Many people have a narcotic attitude towards suffering. It terrifies them and makes them uncomfortable and so instead of building a tool set for overcoming it, they aim to stifle it. The sheer popularity of entertainment, junk food, porn, video games and all these other modern distractions is testam…”— Charlie Ambler, medium.com
“It’s a weird specific type of human arrogance to think that people can offset the great universal balance of positive and negative. It’s like trying to split an atom; we all know what happens when you do that. There are thousands of books out there trying to convince people that the secret to their…”— Charlie Ambler, Charlie Ambler, medium.com
“The truth is that the key to relaxation and finding inner peace doesn’t rely much on work, culture, or consumption. This should be a huge relief, since regardless of where you live, what you believe, or who you are, your stress is probably the result of one of the below factors... The world does stu…”— Charlie Ambler, Charlie Ambler, medium.com
“Monarchies, aristocracies, and religions are all based upon that large defect in your race—the individual's distrust of his neighbor, and his desire, for safety's or comfort's sake, to stand well in his neighbor's eye. These institutions will always remain, and always flourish, and always oppress yo…”— Mark Twain, amazon.com
“There are those who scoff at the schoolboy, calling him frivolous and shallow: Yet it was the schoolboy who said 'Faith is believing what you know ain't so'.”— Mark Twain, amazon.com
“There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”— William Shakespeare, amazon.com
“Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”— Carl Gustav Jung, goodreads.com
“I tore myself away from the safe comfort of certainties through my love for truth - and truth rewarded me.”— Simone de Beauvoir, goodreads.com
“From a very early time, I understood that I only learn from things I don’t like. If you do things you like, you just do the same shit. You always fall in love with the wrong guy. Because there’s no change. It’s so easy to do things you like. But then, the thing is, when you’re afraid of something, f…”— Marina Abramovic, theguardian.com