Quotes

“…not to nurse memories, especially not of evils, but to overlook them.”

To me, Aristotle always seemed like just another stuffy ancient Greek dude in a robe. I always confused him with Socrates. I related to Bill & Ted when they met Socrates, swapping generic, abstract ideas with classic rock lyrics. 😆

But Aristotle was not lost in the abstract. Like other ancient philosophers, he had some cool things to say about being a good person, For example, he espoused being forgiving, consciously “overlooking” the past to avoid the self-imposed ill of resentment.

It is proper to a magnanimous person not to nurse memories, especially not of evils, but to overlook them.
Aristotle

👉 You’ve got to love the word “magnanimous” – it’s a new favorite word of mine.

Dude was also into being helpful and generous…

Of all those who are called virtuous the liberal are probably the best liked, because they are helpful; and their help consists in giving.

So “The Philosopher” was just saying be kind, generous, and forgiving. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Quotes

“Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.”

17 August 202124 August 2021 patmcg2 Comments

Back in college, I remember philosophy geeks loved to say, “Well, Kierkegaard said…” and would quote him and act all superior. It was so annoying.

But now I get it, dammit. 🤦🏻‍♂️ The dude was smart. Here’s one of my favorite quotes.

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.
Søren Kierkegaard

It’s the basic trick of life. Take what you’ve learned so far in life and use it to more forward. ➡

I really like this quote because, like with Rumi, it’s practical advice about living a good life. It’s right on the edge between “cool ideas” and basic self-help.

Wait, am I become a philosophy geek? 😱

Quotes

“Move, but don’t move the way fear makes you move.”

31 July 202131 July 2021 patmcg2 Comments

Another gem from Rumi, the 13th-century Persian fountain of wisdom. 🤯

Move, but don’t move the way fear makes you move.
Rumi

Rumi was part of the old-school philosophy (quite literally) that focused on how to live a good life rather than the big questions of the universe. Although these two questions can certainly meld together.

👉 This open and fearless attitude might be useful for those anti-vaxxers among us.

I’m adding Rumi to my list of ancient people I wish I could hang out with, along with Marcus Aurelius, the Roman philosopher king and self-awareness guru who pre-dated Rumi by over 1000 years.

You

“Meaning is what’s left when everything else is stripped away.”

19 January 202120 January 2021 patmcg4 Comments

Cool quote from this TED talk about almost dying and then living.

Meaning is not found in the material realm; it’s not in dinner, jazz, cocktails or conversation. Meaning is what’s left when everything else is stripped away.

There are lots of way to interpret that quote, of course.

One way I look at it is this: life is about who you are. If everything in your life suddenly disappeared and you were dropped into an empty field in an unknown country, what person would be standing there?

I’m not talking about some crazy Naked and Afraid survival scenario. Suppose you have some money and some clothes. But not much else. Who is that person standing in the field? What does he know? What does he want? How does he move forward? How will he impact the world around him? That’s who you are.

I’m not actually sure if that’s what that quote meant ☝️, but there’s my take. 😆

This goes with Aristotle’s idea that the meaning of life is what you do — how you impact the real world. As humans, we are uniquely gifted with smart brains and “rational faculty”. We are happiest when we use these minds for some purpose in the world.

A poet should write, a teacher teach, and a doctor heal. Not only should each person do their thing, but they should do it well.

I don’t know about you, but I find that pretty inspirational. 😊

The World

I Hate Quantum Mechanics 🤦🏻‍♂️

3 January 202127 January 2021 patmcg1 Comment

I love science. I love philosophy. I love math. But I hate quantum mechanics.

Sorry, it just makes absolutely zero sense and hurts my brain. 🤯 It’s obviously all made up just to annoy us. 😉

It started with a Schrödinger’s cat joke on Reddit, which was perfect because the joke itself was intentionally as annoying as quantum mechanics itself.

Schrödinger’s cat jokes never get old.
Well, they do, but, they don’t.

Doesn’t make sense, right? Not funny? Annoying AF? Totally agreed.

But I had to know what this joke really meant, so then I went down the rabbit hole of what Schrödinger’s cat was all about. The good news is that the Schrödinger’s cat puzzle was actually tying to point out how silly at last one interpretation of quantum mechanics is. 👍

This trail of sorrow leads to obviously incorrect 😉 theories like quantum superposition, which says that something can be in two different states at the same time. (Thus the annoying joke. ☝️) And the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, which says that nothing is ever in one specific place or traveling at any known speed. Tell that to your local traffic cop, amiright?

Science, I love you. Physics, I love you. Quantum mechanics… ehhh… okay, I love you too. But I will never truly understand you. 🧐