Reflections
Pragmatic and spiritual aphorisms
Hi reader,
I love the aphoristic style. Taleb’s Bed of Procrustes, La Rochefoucauld’s Maxims, and Goethe’s Maxim’s and Reflections are all great.
Naturally I’ve been creating my own.
Aphorisms are different than standard writing. I recommend saving this article and reading them at random, no more than four at a time.
Be a bookworm and a gym rat, be a jacked nerd.
The thinker thinks himself a fool, the fool thinks himself a thinker.
Study both Nietzsche and the Buddha, both Machiavelli and Jesus.
The only thing I beg of you is this: never lose your childlike wonder. For the love of God, do not lose your childlike wonder.
You will find much wisdom and many harsh realities from Russian novelists, German philosophers, and American entrepreneurs.
If you wanted it bad enough, you would sleep more.
Don’t waste one more second with short-term thinkers.
Hanging out with the wrong people is much lonelier than solitude.
If you can get past cringing at yourself, the world is yours.
Learn a new language so that your brain will be a new brain.
Searching for peace of mind is the same thing as having a troubled mind.
Read the darkest history and most cynical philosophy you can find but be optimistic and kind.
When you’re not lost in your thoughts—fantasizing about the future or ruminating on the past—there’s only one place you can be.
In lack of wisdom is much grief, and he who fails to increase knowledge increases sorrow.
The main thing that stops you from becoming more knowledgeable is thinking you know a lot.
To know if you can trust someone, look into their eyes for a long time.
What a time we live in. Not doing drugs and believing in God is one of the most rebellious things you can do.
People who claim to act out of compassion for the poor, in reality, are motivated by their hatred—and deep envy—of the rich.
The clown man is only a “feminist” because he secretly thinks it will get him laid; the “open minded” social justice type doesn’t have friends of different cultures.
Just look up at the sky.
A flow state a day keeps the existential angst away.
Mindless pursuit of pleasure equals endless pursuit of pain.
There are certain heroic, daring thoughts that only strike a mind in solitude. Even more so when far from home, in a distant, faraway land.
Above everything, seek truth.
They say they wish they lived in an earlier era. They say this on the internet. They type it on their iPhone, while wearing Lululemon.
You can leave the Hotel California, actually.
Any sufficiently advanced absorption in the present moment is indistinguishable from magic.
The four horseman of the male ambition apocalypse: sports betting, porn, endless scrolling, and weed.
Just as watching Stephen Curry play doesn’t quite improve your jump shot, planning out your goals doesn’t quite improve your life.
Spread the gospel of nasal breathers, spread it far and wide!
Is there any greater mystery than having the experience of thinking about mystery?
The most important thing to know is that there is an infinity of things you don’t know.
Add some Forrest Gump attitude into your life.
Imagine if all the energy you spend criticizing and arguing was instead spent examining your own character, solving your own problems.
We are the incentive animal.
When I see the moon, the thought visits me, what even is anything?
Love yourself so that you can truly love other people.
The more you suffer in your workouts the less you suffer in your mind.
You want to consume very little social media and post often, not consume lots of social media and never post.
What you’re looking for is inside of you.
Your dreams are often trying to show you your deepest insecurities, the ones you don’t want to acknowledge.
When you are your own best friend, solitude is not something you dread, but rather a great treasure.
Busyness and crowds are the enemies of the imagination.
A writer is someone who loves reading so much they have no choice.
Joy is found in creativity, sound judgement in gut feelings, and rapture in pursuing your curiosity.
Blessed is he who feels poisoned by conformity, for he knows the ecstasy of just being himself.
Once you proclaim victory, you’re defeated.
The urge to overexplain yourself is poisonous.
Humans are hardwired to worship.
Some of the most utterly corrupt and intellectually fraudulent people I’ve ever met were University professors.
Think of how badly you once desired what you now have, and be grateful.
Being a good listener is the beginning of charisma.
How often the Muse comes to you in the form of anger!
You are not separate from anything.
Read the books your tribe doesn’t want you to read. Pay attention to stuff with which you disagree, seek to understand the ideas that upset you, study your enemies closely.
Think in terms of probabilities and don’t be quick to draw conclusions.
Time is never on your side.
Enthusiasm for learning is the ultimate skill.
Think about the scarcity of time and the infinity of space. You will find courage.
Thank God for classical music, stand up comedy, old books, and friends.
If you hold your tongue long enough, people start acting like characters in a Dostoevsky novel.
Good taste is a skill.
Bring back sincere handwritten letters.
When you follow your fear fantastic things happen.
One way to make your life more adventurous is to simply not agree with things you don’t agree with. This is more powerful than you think.
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that anyone who is offended has the moral high ground.
GPT is an autodidacts best friend.
By wearing headphones on your walks outside, you are doing yourself a great disservice.
The shortcut is fake.
The easiest way to be on the wrong side of history is to be a luddite.
To ensure you are on the path to never reach your full potential, buy into the flattery you receive.
Everything is sales.
Mark Twain, George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Fyodor Dostoevsky, thank you.
Billy Joel, Elvis Presley, Elton John, Frank Sinatra, thank you.
Study philosophy, world religions, evolution, history, and psychology, and read classic fiction. Deeply, with humility. Never plan on stopping. Watch what happens.
You’re part of an unbroken chain of procreation going back eons. Experiencing a sliver in time with other strange creatures just as lucky. Crack a smile or two.
Those who have never wept from music do not know life.
I agree with Prince Myshkin, beauty will save the world.
Jacked nerds!!!!
Are you kidding me? That's like saying, "Here's a bathtub full of M & Ms. Eat two and stop until tomorrow." (They're really good!)