/ peace.txt
peace.txt
1 One might find oneself confronted with such a danger as in: 2 "Those who learn but do not think, are lost. Those who think but do not learn, are in great danger." 3 Those who think and seek to learn, might appreciate these words: 4 "There is no learning without having to pose a question. And a question requires doubt." 5 One might then doubt the history of one's own origins as in: 6 "The first atrocity, the first war crime committed in any war of aggression by the aggressors is against the truth." 7 Those who then seek the truth, might appreciate these words: 8 "Anarchy is no guarantee that some people won't kill, injure, kidnap, defraud, or steal from others. Government is a guarantee that some will." 9 Those who seek such anarchy, might appreciate the following warning: 10 "It is equally faulty to trust everyone and to trust no one." 11 Those who seek to understand one reason why that might be, might appreciate these words: 12 "Human nature is evil, and goodness is caused by intentional activity." 13 Those who seek to cause such goodness, might appreciate these words: 14 "Good intentions aren’t enough. People have good intentions when they set a goal to do something, but then they miss a deadline or other milestone." 15 Those who seek to know, what milestone one might not want to miss, might appreciate these words: 16 "The end of adolescence is the beginning of adulthood. What hasn't been finished then will have to be finished later." 17 Those who seek to understand how to end their adolenscence, might appreciate these words: 18 "Adolescence is when the very worst and best impulses in the human soul struggle against each other for possession." 19 Those who struggle with their desire for possession, might appreciate these words: 20 "Possession hinders enjoyment. It merely gives you the right to keep things for or from others, and thus you gain more enemies than friends." 21 Those who seek to avoid gaining more enemies, might appreciate these words: 22 "The most dangerous enemy in the world is the one you do not recognize." 23 Those who seek to recognize such enemy might appreciate these words: 24 "What one should really fear is not a competent enemy, but an incompetent ally." 25 Those who seek to understand one reason, why one might fear such an incompetent ally, might appreciate these words: 26 "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." 27 Those who seek to recognize such incompetence, might appreciate these words: 28 "The problem with incompetence is its inability to recognize itself." 29 Those who seek to solve such problem, might appreciate these words: 30 "The opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself." 31 Those who seek such opportunity, might appreciate these words: 32 "When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you." 33 Those seek to recognize such incompetence within oneself, might appreciate these words: 34 "The moment we recognize that the self is not something ready-made, but something in continuous formation through choice of action, the whole situation clears up." 35 Those who seek to act to prevent such violence, might appreciate these words: 36 "We maintain the peace through our strength; weakness only invites aggression." 37 Those who seek to understand such weakness, might appreciate these words: 38 "The greatest weakness of all weaknesses is to fear too much to appear weak." 39 Those who seek to conquer such fear, might appreciate these words: 40 "Thinking will not overcome fear but action will." 41 Those who then seek to act, might appreciate the words: 42 "Man has three ways of acting wisely. First, on meditation; that is the noblest. Secondly, on imitation; that is the easiest. Thirdly, on experience; that is the bitterest." 43 Those who have tried meditation, might reach such conclusion as in: 44 "The problem with incompetence is its inability to recognize itself." 45 Those seek to recognize the incompetence within oneself, might appreciate these words: 46 "The moment we recognize that the self is not something ready-made, but something in continuous formation through choice of action, the whole situation clears up." 47 Those who seek to understand such choice of action, might appreciate these words: 48 "Your choices of action may be limited, but your choices of thought are not." 49 Those who seek to understand such choices of thought, might appreciate these words: 50 "Love is a choice you make every day." 51 Those who seek to understand such love, might appreciate the chapter on "transcendence". 52 Those who do not have the capacity for such meditation, some might appreciate the following thought on imitation: 53 "Imitation is not just the sincerest form of flattery – it’s the sincerest form of learning." 54 Those who seek to learn, might appreciate the chapter on "curiosity". 55 Those who seek to know why such experience might be bitter, might appreciate these words: 56 "In life you have a choice: Bitter or better?" 57 Those who seek to choose for the better, might appreciate these words: 58 "Lesson in life are repeated until they are learnt." 59 Those who keep repeating without learning, might appreciate these words: 60 "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." 61 Those who seek a different result, might appreciate these words: 62 "Every experience is a positive experience, if I view it as an opportunity for growth and self-mastery." 63 Those who seek such growth, might appreciate the chapter on "character". 64 Those who seek self-mastery, might appreciate these words: 65 "If you tell the truth, it becomes a part of your past. If you lie, it becomes a part of your future." 66 Those who seek such truth, might appreciate these words: 67 "Once you know some things, you can't unknow them. It's a burden that can never be given away." 68 Those who then seek to to know, might appreciate the following three lessons of history: 69 First lesson of history might be gratitude. With the awareness of what one and one's own ancestors had to go through to survive, one might feel gratitude towards one's own ancestors. 70 Second lesson might be respect. With the awareness of what others and their ancestors had to go through to survive, one migh realize what atorcities they might be capable of. One might then be able to appreciate the wisdom to treat others with respect to avoid such atrocities. 71 The third lesson might be peace. With the awareness of what horrible atrocities one and the others are capable of, one might then be able to appreciate the following words: 72 "Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding." 73 Those who seek to understand what such understanding might be, might appreciate these words: 74 "Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means." 75 Those who seek such ability, might appreciate these words: 76 "Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy." 77 Those who seek such art, might appreciate these words: 78 "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." 79 Those who seek a way to be kind might appreciate these words: 80 "A part of kindness consists in loving people more than they deserve." 81 One might appreciate the following realization: 82 "If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete." 83 Those who wonder how to excersise self compassion might find a hint in the following words: 84 "You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level." 85 And one might appreciate one of such realization as in: 86 "Nothing can bring you peace but yourself." 87 To bring peace to oneself one might appreciate the following words: 88 "Never lose a chance of saying a kind word." 89 Those who do not know what kind word one may say to oneself might appreciate the the following mantra: 90 "We are all on the way to Pro."