Asklemmy

We have liberated Europe from fascism, but they will never forgive us for it

• Marshal Georgy Zhukov

No matter how many books , videos you see , you cannot learn how to swim without entering the pool.

"Like they should have stopped Hitler at Munich, they should never let him get away with that, they was just asking for bad trouble." Peter Clemenza, The Godfather

A evergreen quote:

Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Dad told me when I was young to "learn to drink your coffee black and cold and you'll never be disappointed."

I don't think he was just talking about coffee.

I don't necessarily think it's underrated because it's the underpinning of a major religion, but;

Existence is suffering.

The first noble truth of Buddhism that I don't think enough people really grasp.

On first read, those three words sound like an angsty teen being all sad, but a deeper exploration tells us that to expect a life of ease and unending contentment is to set ourselves up for continued disappointment and anguish.

When I first really absorbed the meaning of this it actually made me feel incredible. I am alive, therefore my knee hurts. I am alive, so I'm worried for the welfare of those I love. And when I considered it even further I began to understand that this is something that connects us all, regardless of our status in the world. From the most powerful kings and presidents to those sleeping rough begging for change; we are all fundamentally the same.

For me, it's really helped me to push through boundaries that have stopped me being more assertive with those who are more powerful than I am; managers, bosses and such. My boss worries about stuff the same way I do. It's probably different stuff, sure, but he's still experiencing existential pain.

I am not a Buddhist, nor am I particularly spiritual. But I take a lot of inspiration from that phrase.

"Don't follow people - follow ideas" which seems more relevant today than ever before it seems.

“It only ever ends once, everything before that is just progress” -Jacob from lost lol

Life's tough for everyone

-Grandpa

Hitchens on the death of Jerry Falwell: "If they gave his corpse an enema, they could bury him in a matchbox."

Perhaps today is a good day to die. Prepare for ramming speed!

No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.

"Nobody will take care of you if you don't take care of yourself"

Apply this to pushing back on contracts, double checking what you're asked to do, and putting yourself first, and you'll get a lot more respect in my experience. If you primarily put others first, your self will feel neglected. It doesn't mean you should not care for others, but that your highest priority should be yourself, and then others.

"be someones angel"

quote from this little video that really stuck with me, as silly as it might sound

https://youtu.be/Ib2bt28in1c

"republicans are pussies" - me. thanks

"Someone once said that love is the best medicine. He was wrong, though; its crack." Source Unknown

Wen in dbt breath deep

It’s always darkest before the dawn.

How I interpret it is that when things get bad, and reach a new level of bad, that could be just what is needed for the pendulum to swing the other way, and swing extra hard.

Kind of like a Great Depression giving labour laws kind of a thing.

Gives me hope.

The worst decisions make the best stories. - *Unknown *

You can't leave the party if you can't find the door. Randall Jacobs, aka Uncle Bunky

obituary, worth reading

It’s a poem by Stephen Crane, but so short I’m often reminded of it in full:

A man said to the universe:

”Sir, I exist!”

“However,” replied the universe,

“The fact has not created in me

A sense of obligation.”

It sounds nihilistic, but it’s somehow calming whenever I start to feel like I’ve been wronged or I’m owed a break of some sort.

Sadly, pretty much all struggles against a common oppressor take on heavy identity characteristics and have the accompanying problems. It's the main reason they don't work immediately.

Anyway, probably "What I cannot build, I don't understand", by Richard Feynman (although the exact wording varies by source). If I write a book that's probably going to take up the first page.

"Everything you want in life has teeth", by the writer Jonathan Carroll. I believe it means that everything you pursue will hurt you in some way.