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"You're in remarkable shape for a man your age," said the
doctor to the ninety-year old man after the examination.
"I know it," said the old gentleman. "I've really got only
one complaint-my sex drive is too high. Got anything you can
do for that, Doc?"
The doctor's mouth dropped open. "Your what?!" he gasped.
"My sex drive," said the old man. "It's too high, and I'd like
to have you lower it if you can."
"Lower it?!" exclaimed the doctor, still unable to believe what
the ninety-year old gentleman was saying. "Just what do you
consider 'high'?"
"These days it seems like it's all in my head, Doc," said the
old man, "and I'd like to have you lower it a couple of feet
if you can."
An English professor announced to the class; "There are two words
I don't allow in my class. One is gross and the other is cool."
From the back of the room a voice called out, "So, what are the words?
Ways to keep a healthy level of insanity
At lunch time, sit in your parked car with sunglasses on and point a hair dryer at passing cars. See if they slow down.
Page yourself over the intercom. Don't disguise your voice.
Insist that your e mail address is: Xena_Warrior_Princess@companyname.com
Every time someone asks you to do something, ask if they want fries with that.
Put your garbage can on your desk and label it "IN."
Develop an unnatural fear of staplers.
Put decaf in the coffee maker for 3 weeks. Once everyone has gotten over their caffeine addictions, switch to espresso.
Reply to everything someone says with, "That's what you think."
Finish all your sentences with "In accordance with the prophecy."
Adjust the tint on your monitor so that the brightness level lights up the entire work area. Insist to others that you like it that way.
Don't use any punctuation.
As often as possible, skip rather than walk.
Specify that your drive-through order is "to go."
Sing along at the opera.
Go to a poetry recital and ask why the poems don't rhyme.
Find out where your boss shops and buy exactly the same outfits. Wear them one day after your boss does. (This is especially effective if your boss is of the opposite gender.)
Send e-mail to the rest of the company to tell them what you're doing. For example, "If anyone needs me, I'll be in the bathroom, in Stall #3."
Put mosquito netting around your cubicle. Play a tape of jungle sounds all day.
Five days in advance, tell your friends you can't attend their party because you're not in the mood.
Call the psychic hotline and don't say anything.
When the money comes out of the ATM, scream "I Won! I Won! Third time this week!!!"
When leaving the zoo, start running towards the parking lot, yelling "Run for your lives, they're loose!"
Tell your boss, "It's not the voices in my head that bother me, it's the voices in your head that do."
Tell your children over dinner. "Due to the economy, we are going to have to let one of you go."
Every time you see a broom, yell "Honey, your mother is here!"
And the final way to keep a healthy level of insanity....
Send this e-mail to everyone in your address book, even if they sent it to you or have asked you not to send them stuff like this.
YOU'VE BEEN IN CORPORATE AMERICA TOO LONG WHEN...
You ask the waiter what the restaurant's core competencies are.
You decide to re-organize your family into a "team-based organization."
You refer to dating as test marketing.
You can spell "paradigm."
You actually know what a paradigm is.
You understand your airline's fare structure.
You write executive summaries on your love letters.
Your Valentine's Day cards have bullet points.
You think that it's actually efficient to write a ten-page presentation with six other people you don't know.
You celebrate your wedding anniversary by conducting a performance review.
You believe you never have any problems in your life, just "issues" and "improvement opportunities."
You calculate your own personal cost of capital.
You explain to your bank manager that you prefer to think of yourself as "highly leveraged" as opposed to "in debt."
You end every argument by saying "let's talk about this off-line."
You can explain to somebody the difference between "re-engineering," "down-sizing," "right-sizing," and "firing people."
You talk to the waiter about process flow when dinner arrives late.
You refer to your significant other as "my Co-CEO."
You start to feel sorry for Dilbert's boss.
You believe the best tables and graphs take an hour to comprehend.
You account for your tuition as a capital expenditure instead of an expense.
You insist that you do some more market research before you and your spouse produce another child.
You use the term "value-added" without falling down laughing.
Same old couple decides to go the the "Mouse House" while they're this close so the old woman looks up the route on the map and is giving hubby directions. While reading the map she sees a town called "Kissimmee" and comments to hubby about how sweet it is to have a town called KISS a me. Hubby can't believe it so he looks at the spelling and says the correct way to say it is "kiss a ME".
Well, they manage to argue about this all the way down and are still arguing when the old man goes right past the turn and they end up in..you guessed it...Kissimmee.
He pulls into a hamburger joint and demands that the wife go inside with him.
He asks the burger boy if he is from this area. To which the burger boy replies "Yes sir..born and raised just two miles down the road."
The old man then asks the burger boy to pronounce where they are, but slowly and loudly so that the argument can be settled.
The kid, eager to please, yells "BURRGERRR KINGGGG"
WHY MEN AREN'T SECRETARIES
Husband's note to his wife:
"Doctor's office called: Said Pabst beer is normal.
An old married couple in Detroit decide to buy a new Caddie and tourist the country.
At their first gas stop the pump boy goes on and on about how pretty the paint is on the new Caddie. When the old man gets back in the car his wife (who is extremely deaf) says "WHAT DID HE SAY? WHAT DID HE SAY?" To which the old man replies "HE SAID HE LIKED THE CAR".
At the next gas stop the cashier is asking what kind of fuel economy the new Caddie got and did he have to buy the pretty wheels as an option. Sure enough when he gets back in the car the wife yells "WHATD SHE SAY? WHATD SHE SAY?"
He replies "SHE ASKED ABOUT THE WHEELS AND HOW MUCH GAS IT USED".
The next day they are gassing up in a small town just South of Atlanta where the clerk asks him where are they from. The old man tells him Detroit. The clerk tells him that the worst sex he every had was with a woman from Detroit.When he gets back in the car he's got to listen to "WHATD HE SAY/ WHATD HE SAY?" again to which he replies "HE SAID HE THINKS HE KNOWS YA"
Training courses are now available for women on the following subjects:
1. Silence, the Final Frontier: Where No Woman Has Gone Before
2. The Undiscovered Side of Banking: Making Deposits
3. Parties: Going Without New Outfits
4. Man Management: Minor Household Chores Can Wait Till After The Game
5. Bathroom Etiquette I: Men Need Space in the Bathroom Cabinet Too.
6. Bathroom Etiquette II: His Razor is His
7. Communication Skills I: Tears - The Last Resort, not the First.
8. Communication Skills II: Thinking Before Speaking
9. Communication Skills III: Getting What you Want Without Nagging
10. Driving a Car Safely: A Skill You CAN Acquire
11. Telephone Skills: How to Hang Up
12. Introduction to Parking
13. Advanced Parking: Backing Into a Space
14. Water Retention: Fact or Fat
15. Cooking I: Bringing Back Bacon, Eggs and Butter
16. Cooking II: Bran and Tofu are Not for Human Consumption
17. Cooking III: How not to Inflict Your Diets on Other People
18. Compliments: Accepting Them Gracefully
19. PMS: Your Problem . . . Not His
20. Dancing: Why Men Don't Like To
21. Classic Clothing: Wearing Outfits You Already Have
22. Household Dust: A Harmless Natural Occurrence Only Women Notice
23. Integrating Your Laundry: Washing It All Together
24. Oil and Gas: Your Car Needs Both
25. TV Remotes: For Men Only
Inept Romantic Sentiments
Your kisses are sweeter than wine and don't have the paper bag.
I am irrationally exuberant for you in the third quarter of my fiscal
life, with rising indicators.
My love for you runs hotter than a '74 Nova with a V-8 engine and a
busted water pump.
You're really somethin', and that ain't just the beer talkin'.
Darling, you make me as hot as one of those hand dryers in a turnpike
restroom.
If we were ****roaches, I'd want to have all 456,938 of your children.
It was Schneider's birthday, and that morning there was a knock on the
door. "Telegram!"
He opened the door excitedly, "Is it a singing telegram?" Schneider
asked the messenger boy.
"No Sir. We don't do singing telegrams anymore."
"I've always wanted a singing telegram. Can't you bend the rules and
make an old man happy?"
"Sorry."
"Please," begged Schneider. "Today's my birthday."
"Oh, all right," said the boy, "Dah-dah dah... dah-dah-dah, your sister
Rose is dead!"
USES FOR A CONDOM
Hair tie.
Slip 'er over a payphone to avoid "NASTY" germs.
Bathing cap (if you stretch it in the right manner).
Neat travel case for your toothbrush.
Wet suit for a ferret.
Finger puppets.
Travel size shampoo and conditioner holders.
Use it to store that urine sample next time you go to the doc for a checkup.
Rubber boot for a peg leg.
Latex toe warmers.
Stuff, and use to stop drafts under doors.
Fill with rocks and use to as a weapon in a crisis situation.
Makeshift sandbags in the event of a flood.
To keep candles dry when camping.
Build your own incredible "Water Weenies".
To quickly fill water pistols.
Bicycle tire tube.
Change purse.
Goodyear Blimp model.
For those long car trips that dad hates to stop for potty breaks.
Good thing nobody ever slammed the door!
A couple in the UK unwittingly used a live bomb as a doorstop for
23 years. Until, that is, a local policeman recognized it as a
World War II "ack-ack" shell and contacted the bomb squad.
The former owner said, "Children and grand-children have played
with it. We're lucky it didn't go off."
====================================================
A bonehead award goes to the skipper of an ocean
freighter "the length of two football fields."
Because of him, the shipping company that owns the vessel has
agreed to pay the natives of an isolated Pacific island (Satawal)
about $2 million because of damage he caused to valuable coral
reef life.
It seems that he tried maneuvering the massive vessel through an
island channel so he could get a better look at the island's
topless women.
=====================================================
And then we have a bonehead award for another robber in Amstel,
MA who tried to carry away the cash register.
Now he's suing the store because he hurt his back trying to haul
away the heavy machine. He says they should have had a sign
warning people that the cash registers are very heavy.
A man and his little girl were on an overcrowded elevator.
Suddenly a woman in front turned around, slapped him and
left in a huff.
The little girl remarked, "That's okay, Daddy, I didn't like
her either, she was stepping all over my toes. That's why I
pinched her."
Mark Twain said that when he was a young man he was impressed
by the story of a fellow who landed a job when a manager saw
him pick up several pins from the sidewalk outside the firm's
office. The manager was so impressed with the man's thrift
and diligence that he gave him an interview right then and
there.
So Twain went to the street alongside the office windows of
a firm he wanted to work for and began almost ostentatiously
to pick up pins he had earlier placed on the sidewalk. After
a good number of pins had been picked up, a clerk came out
and said, "The boss asked me to tell you to move along. Your
idiotic behavior is distracting the people working in the
office."
A salesman attending a meeting on the coast was held up when
a severe storm and a flood washed out the local airport. He
wired his office: "Delayed by storm. Send instructions."
His boss wired back: "We'll answer your calls. Begin vacation
immediately."
"I've good news for you," said the psychiatrist. "You're a
well man. It won't be necessary for you to continue the
analysis any longer."
"How wonderful, doctor," said the patient. "I'm so very
pleased, I wish there were something special I could do for
you in return."
"Oh, that's not necessary. You've paid your bill and that's
all that's expected."
"But really, doctor, I'm so elated I could kiss you!"
"No, don't do that. Actually, we shouldn't even be lying here
on the couch together."
A wild-eyed man dressed in a Napoleonic costume and hiding his
right hand inside his coat entered the psychiatrist's office
and nervously exclaimed, "Doctor, I need your help right away."
"I can see that," retorted the doctor. "Lie down on that couch
and tell me your problem."
"I don't have any problem," the man snapped. "In fact, as
Emperor of France I have everything I could possibly want:
money, women, power -- everything! But I'm afraid my wife,
Josephine, is in deep mental trouble."
"I see," said the psychiatrist, humoring his distraught
patient. "And what seems to be her main problem?"
"For some strange reason," answered the unhappy man, "she
thinks she's Mrs. Schwartz."
The following quotes were taken from actual medical records as dictated by physicians...
By the time he was admitted, his rapid heart had stopped, and he was feeling better.
Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.
On the second day the knee was better and on the third day it had completely disappeared.
The patient has been depressed ever since she began seeing me in 1983
Patient was released to outpatient department without dressing.
I have suggested that he loosen his pants before standing, and then, when he stands with the help of his wife, they should fall to the floor.
The patient is tearful and crying constantly. She also appears to be depressed.
Discharge status: Alive but without permission.
The patient will need disposition, and therefore we will get Dr. Blank to dispose of him.
Healthy appearing decrepit 69 year-old male, mentally alert but forgetful.
The patient refused an autopsy.
The patient has no past history of suicides.
The patient expired on the floor uneventfully.
Patient has left his white blood cells at another hospital.
The patient's past medical history has been remarkably insignificant with only a 40 pound weight gain in the past three days.
She slipped on the ice and apparently her legs went in separate directions in early December.
The patient left the hospital feeling much better except for her original complaints.
The patient had waffles for breakfast and anorexia for lunch.
The patient was in his usual state of good health until his airplane ran out of gas and crashed.
She is numb from her toes down.
The skin was moist and dry.
Occasional, constant, infrequent headaches.
Coming from Detroit, this man has no children.
Patient was alert and unresponsive.
When she fainted, her eyes rolled around the room.
There are three engineers in a car
an electrical engineer, a chemical engineer and a Microsoft engineer. Suddenly the car just stalls by the side of the road, and the three engineers look at each other wondering what could be wrong.
The electrical engineer suggests stripping down the electronics of the car and trying to trace where a fault might have occurred.
The chemical engineeer, not knowing much about cars, suggests that maybe the fuel is becoming emulsified and getting blocked somewhere.
Then, the Microsoft engineer, not knowing much about anything, comes up with a suggestion, "Why don`t we close all the windows, get out, get back in, open the windows again, and maybe it`ll work?"
Subject: Field Trip
A group of 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders, accompanied by
two female teachers, went on a field trip to the local race track to learn about thoroughbred horses and the supporting industry.
When it was time to take the children to
the toilet, it was decided that the girls would go with one teacher and the boys would go with the other.
The female teacher assigned to the boys was waiting outside the men's room when one of the boys came out and told her that none of them could reach the urinal. Having no choice, she went inside and began hoisting the little boys up by their arm pits, one by one.
As she lifted one, she couldn't help but notice that
he was unusually well endowed.
Trying not to show that she was staring, the teacher said, "You must be in the 3rd!"
"No, ma'am," he replied. "I'm in the 7th, riding Sea Biscuit...but thanks for the lift.
A Texan buys a round of drinks for all in the bar
because, he announces, his wife has just produced
"a typical Texas" baby boy weighing 25 pounds.
Congratulations showered him from all around,
and many exclamations of "WOW!" were heard.
A woman faints due to sympathy pains.
Two weeks later, he returns to the bar. The bartender
says, "Say, you're the father of the typical Texas baby that weighed 25 pounds at birth.
How much does he weigh now?"
The proud father answers, "Seventeen pounds,"
The bartender is puzzled, "Why? What happened? He
already weighed 25 pounds at birth."
The Texas father takes a slow swig from his
long-neck Lone Star beer, wipes his lips on his shirt sleeve, leans into the bartender
and proudly says, "Had him circumcised."
Live chat anyone?
SECTION I: THOUGHTS ON MIND AND ON STYLE
1. The difference between the mathematical and the intuitive mind.--In the one, the principles are palpable, but removed from ordinary use; so that for want of habit it is difficult to turn one's mind in that direction: but if one turns it thither ever so little, one sees the principles fully, and one must have a quite inaccurate mind who reasons wrongly from principles so plain that it is almost impossible they should escape notice.
But in the intuitive mind the principles are found in common use and are before the eyes of everybody. One has only to look, and no effort is necessary; it is only a question of good eyesight, but it must be good, for the principles are so subtle and so numerous that it is almost impossible but that some escape notice. Now the omission of one principle leads to error; thus one must have very clear sight to see all the principles and, in the next place, an accurate mind not to draw false deductions from known principles.
All mathematicians would then be intuitive if they had clear sight, for they do not reason incorrectly from principles known to them; and intuitive minds would be mathematical if they could turn their eyes to the principles of mathematics to which they are unused.
The reason, therefore, that some intuitive minds are not mathematical is that they cannot at all turn their attention to the principles of mathematics. But the reason that mathematicians are not intuitive is that they do not see what is before them, and that, accustomed to the exact and plain principles of mathematics, and not reasoning till they have well inspected and arranged their principles, they are lost in matters of intuition where the principles do not allow of such arrangement. They are scarcely seen; they are felt rather than seen; there is the greatest difficulty in making them felt by those who do not of themselves perceive them. These principles are so fine and so numerous that a very delicate and very clear sense is needed to perceive them, and to judge rightly and justly when they are perceived, without for the most part being able to demonstrate them in order as in mathematics, because the principles are not known to us in the same way, and because it would be an endless matter to undertake it. We must see the matter at once, at one glance, and not by a process of reasoning, at least to a certain degree. And thus it is rare that mathematicians are intuitive and that men of intuition are mathematicians, because mathematicians wish to treat matters of intuition mathematically and make themselves ridiculous, wishing to begin with definitions and then with axioms, which is not the way to proceed in this kind of reasoning. Not that the mind does not do so, but it does it tacitly, naturally, and without technical rules; for the expression of it is beyond all men, and only a few can feel it.
Intuitive minds, on the contrary, being thus accustomed to judge at a single glance, are so astonished when they are presented with propositions of which they understand nothing, and the way to which is through definitions and axioms so sterile, and which they are not accustomed to see thus in detail, that they are repelled and disheartened.
But dull minds are never either intuitive or mathematical.
Mathematicians who are only mathematicians have exact minds, provided all things are explained to them by means of definitions and axioms; otherwise they are inaccurate and insufferable, for they are only right when the principles are quite clear.
And men of intuition who are only intuitive cannot have the patience to reach to first principles of things speculative and conceptual, which they have never seen in the world and which are altogether out of the common.
2. There are different kinds of right understanding; some have right understanding in a certain order of things, and not in others, where they go astray. Some draw conclusions well from a few premises, and this displays an acute judgment.
Others draw conclusions well where there are many premises.
For example, the former easily learn hydrostatics, where the premises are few, but the conclusions are so fine that only the greatest acuteness can reach them.
And in spite of that these persons would perhaps not be great mathematicians, because mathematics contain a great number of premises, and there is perhaps a kind of intellect that can search with ease a few premises to the bottom and cannot in the least penetrate those matters in which there are many premises.
There are then two kinds of intellect: the one able to penetrate acutely and deeply into the conclusions of given premises, and this is the precise intellect; the other able to comprehend a great number of premises without confusing them, and this is the mathematical intellect. The one has force and exactness, the other comprehension. Now the one quality can exist without the other; the intellect can be strong and narrow, and can also be comprehensive and weak.
3. Those who are accustomed to judge by feeling do not understand the process of reasoning, for they would understand at first sight and are not used to seek for principles. And others, on the contrary, who are accustomed to reason from principles, do not at all understand matters of feeling, seeking principles and being unable to see at a glance.
4. Mathematics, intuition.--True eloquence makes light of eloquence, true morality makes light of morality; that is to say, the morality of the judgement, which has no rules, makes light of the morality of the intellect.
For it is to judgement that perception belongs, as science belongs to intellect. Intuition is the part of judgement, mathematics of intellect.
To make light of philosophy is to be a true philosopher.
5. Those who judge of a work by rule are in regard to others as those who have a watch are in regard to others. One says, "It is two hours ago"; the other says, "It is only three-quarters of an hour." I look at my watch, and say to the one, "You are weary," and to the other, "Time gallops with you"; for it is only an hour and a half ago, and I laugh at those who tell me that time goes slowly with me and that I judge by imagination. They do not know that I judge by my watch.
6. Just as we harm the understanding, we harm the feelings also.
The understanding and the feelings are moulded by intercourse; the understanding and feelings are corrupted by intercourse. Thus good or bad society improves or corrupts them. It is, then, all-important to know how to choose in order to improve and not to corrupt them; and we cannot make this choice, if they be not already improved and not corrupted. Thus a circle is formed, and those are fortunate who escape it.
7. The greater intellect one has, the more originality one finds in men. Ordinary persons find no difference between men.
8. There are many people who listen to a sermon in the same way as they listen to vespers.
9. When we wish to correct with advantage and to show another that he errs, we must notice from what side he views the matter, for on that side it is usually true, and admit that truth to him, but reveal to him the side on which it is false. He is satisfied with that, for he sees that he was not mistaken and that he only failed to see all sides. Now, no one is offended at not seeing everything; but one does not like to be mistaken, and that perhaps arises from the fact that man naturally cannot see everything, and that naturally he cannot err in the side he looks at, since the perceptions of our senses are always true.
10. People are generally better persuaded by the reasons which they have themselves discovered than by those which have come into the mind of others.
11. All great amusements are dangerous to the Christian life; but among all those which the world has invented there is none more to be feared than the theatre. It is a representation of the passions so natural and so delicate that it excites them and gives birth to them in our hearts, and, above all, to that of love, principally when it is represented as very chaste and virtuous. For the more innocent it appears to innocent souls, the more they are likely to be touched by it. Its violence pleases our self-love, which immediately forms a desire to produce the same effects which are seen so well represented; and, at the same time, we make ourselves a conscience founded on the propriety of the feelings which we see there, by which the fear of pure souls is removed, since they imagine that it cannot hurt their purity to love with a love which seems to them so reasonable.
So we depart from the theatre with our heart so filled with all the beauty and tenderness of love, the soul and the mind so persuaded of its innocence, that we are quite ready to receive its first impressions, or rather to seek an opportunity of awakening them in the heart of another, in order that we may receive the same pleasures and the same sacrifices which we have seen so well represented in the theatre.
12. Scaramouch, who only thinks of one thing.
The doctor, who speaks for a quarter of an hour after he has said everything, so full is he of the desire of talking.
13. One likes to see the error, the passion of Cleobuline, because she is unconscious of it. She would be displeasing, if she were not deceived.
14. When a natural discourse paints a passion or an effect, one feels within oneself the truth of what one reads, which was there before, although one did not know it. Hence one is inclined to love him who makes us feel it, for he has not shown us his own riches, but ours. And thus this benefit renders him pleasing to us, besides that such community of intellect as we have with him necessarily inclines the heart to love.
15. Eloquence, which persuades by sweetness, not by authority; as a tyrant, not as a king.
16. Eloquence is an art of saying things in such a way (1) that those to whom we speak may listen to them without pain and with pleasure; (2) that they feel themselves interested, so that self-love leads them more willingly to reflection upon it.
It consists, then, in a correspondence which we seek to establish between the head and the heart of those to whom we speak, on the one hand, and, on the other, between the thoughts and the expressions which we employ. This assumes that we have studied well the heart of man so as to know all its powers and, then, to find the just proportions of the discourse which we wish to adapt to them. We must put ourselves in the place of those who are to hear us, and make trial on our own heart of the turn which we give to our discourse in order to see whether one is made for the other, and whether we can assure ourselves that the hearer will be, as it were, forced to surrender. We ought to restrict ourselves, so far as possible, to the simple and natural, and not to magnify that which is little, or belittle that which is great. It is not enough that a thing be beautiful; it must be suitable to the subject, and there must be in it nothing of excess or defect.
17. Rivers are roads which move, and which carry us whither we desire to go.
18. When we do not know the truth of a thing, it is of advantage that there should exist a common error which determines the mind of man, as, for example, the moon, to which is attributed the change of seasons, the progress of diseases, etc. For the chief malady of man is restless curiosity about things which he cannot understand; and it is not so bad for him to be in error as to be curious to no purpose.
The manner in which Epictetus, Montaigne, and Salomon de Tultie wrote is the most usual, the most suggestive, the most remembered, and the oftenest quoted, because it is entirely composed of thoughts born from the common talk of life. As when we speak of the common error which exists among men that the moon is the cause of everything, we never fail to say that Salomon de Tultie says that, when we do not know the truth of a thing, it is of advantage that there should exist a common error, etc.; which is the thought above.
19. The last thing one settles in writing a book is what one should put in first.
20. Order.--Why should I undertake to divide my virtues into four rather than into six? Why should I rather establish virtue in four, in two, in one? Why into Abstine et sustine[1] rather than into "Follow Nature," or, "Conduct your private affairs without injustice," as Plato, or anything else? But there, you will say, everything is contained in one word. Yes, but it is useless without explanation, and when we come to explain it, as soon as we unfold this maxim which contains all the rest, they emerge in that first confusion which you desired to avoid. So, when they are all included in one, they are hidden and useless, as in a chest, and never appear save in their natural confusion. Nature has established them all without including one in the other.
21. Nature has made all her truths independent of one another. Our art makes one dependent on the other. But this is not natural. Each keeps its own place.
22. Let no one say that I have said nothing new; the arrangement of the subject is new. When we play tennis, we both play with the same ball, but one of us places it better.
I had as soon it said that I used words employed before. And in the same way if the same thoughts in a different arrangement do not form a different discourse, no more do the same words in their different arrangement form different thoughts!
23. Words differently arranged have a different meaning, and meanings differently arranged have different effects.
24. Language.--We should not turn the mind from one thing to another, except for relaxation, and that when it is necessary and the time suitable, and not otherwise. For he that relaxes out of season wearies, and he who wearies us out of season makes us languid, since we turn quite away. So much does our perverse lust like to do the contrary of what those wish to obtain from us without giving us pleasure, the coin for which we will do whatever is wanted.
25. Eloquence.--It requires the pleasant and the real; but the pleasant must itself be drawn from the true.
26. Eloquence is a painting of thought; and thus those who, after having painted it, add something more, make a picture instead of a portrait.
27. Miscellaneous. Language.--Those who make antitheses by forcing words are like those who make false windows for symmetry. Their rule is not to speak accurately, but to make apt figures of speech.
28. Symmetry is what we see at a glance; based on the fact that there is no reason for any difference, and based also on the face of man; whence it happens that symmetry is only wanted in breadth, not in height or depth.
29. When we see a natural style, we are astonished and delighted; for we expected to see an author, and we find a man. Whereas those who have good taste, and who, seeing a book, expect to find a man, are quite surprised to find an author. Plus poetice quam humane locutus es.2 Those honour Nature well who teach that she can speak on everything, even on theology.
30. We only consult the ear because the heart is wanting. The rule is uprightness.
Beauty of omission, of judgement.
31. All the false beauties which we blame in Cicero have their admirers, and in great number.
32. There is a certain standard of grace and beauty which consists in a certain relation between our nature, such as it is, weak or strong, and the thing which pleases us.
Whatever is formed according to this standard pleases us, be it house, song, discourse, verse, prose, woman, birds, rivers, trees, rooms, dress, etc. Whatever is not made according to this standard displeases those who have good taste.
And as there is a perfect relation between a song and a house which are made after a good model, because they are like this good model, though each after its kind; even so there is a perfect relation between things made after a bad model. Not that the bad model is unique, for there are many; but each bad sonnet, for example, on whatever false model it is formed, is just like a woman dressed after that model.
Nothing makes us understand better the ridiculousness of a false sonnet than to consider nature and the standard and, then, to imagine a woman or a house made according to that standard.
33. Poetical beauty.--As we speak of poetical beauty, so ought we to speak of mathematical beauty and medical beauty. But we do not do so; and the reason is that we know well what is the object of mathematics, and that it consists in proofs, and what is the object of medicine, and that it consists in healing. But we do not know in what grace consists, which is the object of poetry. We do not know the natural model which we ought to imitate; and through lack of this knowledge, we have coined fantastic terms, "The golden age," "The wonder of our times," "Fatal," etc., and call this jargon poetical beauty.
But whoever imagines a woman after this model, which consists in saying little things in big words, will see a pretty girl adorned with mirrors and chains, at whom he will smile; because we know better wherein consists the charm of woman than the charm of verse. But those who are ignorant would admire her in this dress, and there are many villages in which she would be taken for the queen; hence we call sonnets made after this model "Village Queens."
34. No one passes in the world as skilled in verse unless he has put up the sign of a poet, a mathematician, etc. But educated people do not want a sign and draw little distinction between the trade of a poet and that of an embroiderer.
People of education are not called poets or mathematicians, etc.; but they are all these and judges of all these. No one guesses what they are. When they come into society, they talk on matters about which the rest are talking. We do not observe in them one quality rather than another, save when they have to make use of it. But then we remember it, for it is characteristic of such persons that we do not say of them that they are fine speakers, when it is not a question of oratory, and that we say of them that they are fine speakers, when it is such a question.
It is therefore false praise to give a man when we say of him, on his entry, that he is a very clever poet; and it is a bad sign when a man is not asked to give his judgement on some verses.
35. We should not be able to say of a man, "He is a mathematician," or "a preacher," or "eloquent"; but that he is "a gentleman." That universal quality alone pleases me. It is a bad sign when, on seeing a person, you remember his book. I would prefer you to see no quality till you meet it and have occasion to use it (Ne quid minis),[3] for fear some one quality prevail and designate the man. Let none think him a fine speaker, unless oratory be in question, and then let them think it.
36. Man is full of wants: he loves only those who can satisfy them all. "This one is a good mathematician," one will say. But I have nothing to do with mathematics; he would take me for a proposition. "That one is a good soldier." He would take me for a besieged town. I need, then, an upright man who can accommodate himself generally to all my wants.
37. Since we cannot be universal and know all that is to be known of everything, we ought to know a little about everything. For it is far better to know something about everything than to know all about one thing. This universality is the best. If we can have both, still better; but if we must choose, we ought to choose the former. And the world feels this and does so; for the world is often a good judge.
38. A poet and not an honest man.
39. If lightning fell on low places, etc., poets, and those who can only reason about things of that kind, would lack proofs.
40. If we wished to prove the examples which we take to prove other things, we should have to take those other things to be examples; for, as we always believe the difficulty is in what we wish to prove, we find the examples clearer and a help to demonstration.
Thus, when we wish to demonstrate a general theorem, we must give the rule as applied to a particular case; but if we wish to demonstrate a particular case, we must begin with the general rule. For we always find the thing obscure which we wish to prove and that clear which we use for the proof; for, when a thing is put forward to be proved, we first fill ourselves with the imagination that it is, therefore, obscure and, on the contrary, that what is to prove it is clear, and so we understand it easily.
41. Epigrams of Martial.--Man loves malice, but not against one-eyed men nor the unfortunate, but against the fortunate and proud. People are mistaken in thinking otherwise.
For lust is the source of all our actions, and humanity, etc. We must please those who have humane and tender feelings. That epigram about two one-eyed people is worthless, for it does not console them and only gives a point to the author's glory. All that is only for the sake of the author is worthless. Ambitiosa recident ornamenta.[4]
42. To call a king "Prince" is pleasing, because it diminishes his rank.
43. Certain authors, speaking of their works, say: "My book," "My commentary," "My history," etc. They resemble middle-class people who have a house of their own and always have "My house" on their tongue. They would do better to say: "Our book," "Our commentary," "Our history," etc., because there is in them usually more of other people's than their own.
44. Do you wish people to believe good of you? Don't speak.
45. Languages are ciphers, wherein letters are not changed into letters, but words into words, so that an unknown language is decipherable.
46. A maker of witticisms, a bad character.
47. There are some who speak well and write badly. For the place and the audience warm them, and draw from their minds more than they think of without that warmth.
48. When we find words repeated in a discourse and, in trying to correct them, discover that they are so appropriate that we would spoil the discourse, we must leave them alone. This is the test; and our attempt is the work of envy, which is blind, and does not see that repetition is not in this place a fault; for there is no general rule.
49. To mask nature and disguise her. No more king, pope, bishop--but august monarch, etc.; not Paris--the capital of the kingdom. There are places in which we ought to call Paris, "Paris," others in which we ought to call it the capital of the kingdom.
50. The same meaning changes with the words which express it. Meanings receive their dignity from words instead of giving it to them. Examples should be sought....
51. Sceptic, for obstinate.
52. No one calls another a Cartesian but he who is one himself, a pedant but a pedant, a provincial but a provincial; and I would wager it was the printer who put it on the title of Letters to a Provincial.
53. A carriage upset or overturned, according to the meaning. To spread abroad or upset, according to the meaning. (The argument by force of M. le Maitre over the friar.)
54. Miscellaneous.--A form of speech, "I should have liked to apply myself to that."
55. The aperitive virtue of a key, the attractive virtue of a hook.
56. To guess: "The part that I take in your trouble." The Cardinal did not want to be guessed.
"My mind is disquieted." I am disquieted is better.
57. I always feel uncomfortable under such compliments as these: "I have given you a great deal of trouble," "I am afraid I am boring you," "I fear this is too long." We either carry our audience with us, or irritate them.
58. You are ungraceful: "Excuse me, pray." Without that excuse I would not have known there was anything amiss. "With reverence be it spoken..." The only thing bad is their excuse.
59. "To extinguish the torch of sedition"; too luxuriant. "The restlessness of his genius"; two superfluous grand words.
[1]"Abstain and uphold." Stoic maxim.
2Petronius, 90. "You have spoken more as a poet than as a man."
[3]"Nothing in excess."
[4]Horace, Epistle to the pisos, 447. "They curtailed pretentious ornaments."
Is Jesus Yahweh, the Almighty God?
.
There are many views on this issue. Some teach that there is picking order of the Godhead.
1.) God the Father
2.) God the Son (Jesus)
3.) God the Holy Spirit
Each one is separated and each has certain jobs and responsibilities. 1 Corinthians 15:24-28 and others.
Another teaching is like this:
1.) God the Father
2.) The Son (Jesus) is a “god”. A created being made by the Father to do His purpose or will.
3.) God the Holy Spirit
This view is common to the JW’s. Any body that has to rewrite the whole Bible to get their point across has a BIG problem.
There are texts in the Bible that could answer their question both ways, Yes and No, depending on a point of view you want to look at. Jesus tells his disciples that no one can come to the Father, except through me. Studying the Trinity (Godhead) requires a lifetime plus some. There are soooo much that in the Bible that our little minds want understand completely or even grasp and this topic is one of them. There are scripture that proves both sides of the issue. Depending on which view point you are trying to stress out. I do believe that something happen when Jesus became human and lived on the earth, but He (Jesus) was still God, because people to worship him and God (Yahweh) does not allow anyone or anything to be worship. Revelation 22:8-9. 19:10, Hebrews 12:28, Luke 4:8.
There are scripture that say the other side of the coin. Does that mean that there is an error in the Bible. "NO" It show us that understanding God Almighty, the Father, Son, Holy Spirit and how everything fix together is beyond out minds. We have not even touched the tip of the iceberg, what the Bible has in it. To me Preterism or Transmill or whatever you want to call it goes beyond out minds. To see God's plan unfold from beginning of time (Genesis) to (Revelation) AD 70 and see how faithful he really is throughout our lives today, words can not express.
Let’s start by looking at some words in Greek and in Hebrew. I will be using the Goodrick/Kohlenberger and Strongs Concordance. I am NO scholar in words and there meaning, but I will do my best.
God
The word “God” in the Greek is “Theos” # 2536 Goodrick/Kohlenberger and #2311 Strongs. The meaning I got is this: “The Triune God, corresponding to the Hebrew title “elohiym” and the name known as the Tetragrammaton “Yahweh”. Regarding the doctrine of God, or theology proper, biblical Christian faith teaches that there is only one true God, namely the God revealed in the Holy Scriptures (Jeremiah 10:10, Deuteronomy 6:4, 1 Thessalonians 1:9). He alone is the Creator, Sustainer and Redeemer of the universe, and is the sole proper object of all worship (Matthew 4:10, Luke 4:8). The Scriptures reveal that God is a spirit (John 4:24, 1 Timothy 1:17) possessing true personality and having all His attributes in perfection and completion (Matthew 5:48). Furthermore, the Scripture reveal that the one God exists in three person: Father, Son, Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:16-17, John 10:30, 2 Corinthians 13:14). Finally, the doctrine of the Trinity, though clearly revealed in Scripture and essential to saving faith and orthodox doctrine, is a profound mystery. It is sacred truth founded upon special revelation and not human reason. It is therefore to be cherished, studied and defended by all saints. Because of it inscrutable nature, men are tempted either to neglect or disparage this doctrine or to subject in to vain speculation...”
God is used 3969 times in the NIV Bible. The Hebrew word “elohiym” is used throughout the Old Testament except for the following text: Malachi 1:9, 2:10. In these verses the word “El” is used, which means “God, mighty one” The word “El” appears in the Old Testament as proper names, such as Emmanuel (Isaiah 7:14).
Let’s start with John 1:1 “...and the Word was with God (Greek-Theos, Hebrew-elehiym + Yahweh) ....and the Word was God”. (Greek-Theos, hebrew-elehiym + Yahweh)
John 5:18 “For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God (Greek-Theos, Hebrew-elehiym + Yahweh) his own Father making himself equal with God.” (Greek-Theos, hebrew-elehiym + Yahweh)
John 20:28 Thomas tells Jesus “My Lord and my God.” (Greek-Theos, Hebrew-elehiym + Yahweh)
The Father is God (Yahweh), the Son is God (Yahweh), and the Holy Spirit is God (Yahweh)
If you look at the Bible, it tells us that there is ONE God not three. At the same time it tell us about the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. Also in the Bible that each of them had a part in a plan from the Creation (Genesis) to the New Heaven and Earth (Revelation (70 AD)) and even today. God would not be God without the Father or the Son or the Holy Spirit. It takes all three to become one. This is hard to really comprehend. Here are some examples of being “ONE”:
When a man and a woman are join together through marriage, they become one. Genesis 2:24, Mark 10:8, Matthew 19:5, Ephesians 5:31
Jesus says the same thing to the Father, "...I pray that them (the disciples) be one like we are one..." John 10:30, 11:52, 17:21-22.
1 John 5:7-8 “ For there are three that testify in Heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. And there are three that testify on earth: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.”
Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord (Yahweh) our God, the Lord (Yahweh) is one.
To fully understand being “one” is something we will never really grasp. We may have ideas on what it means, but to comprehend completely, I don’t think so. Understanding PERFECT UNITY, PERFECT LOVE, and PERFECT everything is beyond man. It is next to impossible trying to separate the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All three of them work together in PERFECT UNITY for a common purpose.
LORD
Now let’s look at the usage of the word “Lord”. In the Greek is “kyrios” # 3261 Goodrick/Kohlenberger and #2951 Strongs. The Hebrew meaning is “Yahweh” the Lord. “The covenant name of God, most prominently known in connection with His relationship with the nation of Israel. It was never pronounced by the Jews, who generally substituted a synonym such as “donay”, sovereign, the Lord.” This Hebrew word is used around 6551 times in the Old Testament in the NIV. I am not going to quote all, but here are a few that will make a point or two.
In the Greek the meaning is “might, power. Lord, master, owner. Is spoken of God and Christ. Of God as supreme lord and Sovereign of the universe, usually corresponding to Jehovah (Matthew 1:22, 5:33, Mark 5:19, and others) . The same word is used with a lower case “L” , which denotes master of a household or a title: example “lord” is used in England, and what Sarah called Abraham. (Genesis 18:12, 1 Peter 3:6. KJV uses “lord” while the NIV uses the word “master”)
Psalm 23:1: “The Lord (Yahweh) is my shepherd...” and John 10:11, Jesus says “I am the good shepherd...”.
How could Jesus say that statement, because in Mark 10:18 Jesus says, “...Why do you call me good? No one is good, except God (Greek-Theos, Hebrew-elehiym + Yahweh) alone.”
Jeremiah 23:5-6 “”The days are coming,” declares the Lord(Yahweh), “when I will raise up to David a righteous Brnach a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord (Yahweh) Our Righteousness.””
1 Kings 18:39b “....the Lord (Yahweh) – he is God! The Lord (Yahweh) – he is God.” (Greek-Theos, Hebrew-elehiym + Yahweh) name by which He will be called: The Lord (Yahweh) our righteousness.”
Isaiah 45:5 “I am the Lord (Yahweh) , and there is on other; apart from me there is no God.
Isaiah 29:5-6 “But your many enemies will become like fire dust, the ruthless hordes like blown chaff. Suddenly, in a instant, the Lord (Yahweh) Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire.” (70 AD)
Isaiah 40:3“The voice of him that crieth in the wideness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord (Yahweh), make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” (Greek-Theos, Hebrew-elehiym + Yahweh)
Mark 1:1-3 “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is written in Isaiah the prophet: I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”—“a voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord make straight paths for him.’ “
John 1:23 “John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’ “
Malachi 4:5 “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord (Yahweh) comes.”
Joel 2:31 “The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. (Yahweh)” (Matthew 24:29, Acts 2:20, 70 AD)
What is this telling us? Who was coming? What “day” is the text talking about? 70 AD to all.
Deuteronomy 10:17 “For the Lord (Yahweh) your God is God of gods and Lord (Hebrew word: "Adom", meaning: The usual intensive plural may refer to the plural of majesty of God. Owner, ruler, master.) of lords, the great God, Mighty and awesome who shows on partiality and accepts no brides.
Isaiah 43:3 “For I am the Lord (Yahweh), your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.”
Psalm 38:22 “Come quickly to help me, O Lord (Yahweh) my Savior.
I was always taught that Jesus was our only Savior.
1 John 4:14 “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.”
2 Timothy 1:10 “but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus,....”
Jude 1:25 “to the only God (Greek-Theos, Hebrew-elehiym + Yahweh) our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages now and forevermore! Amen.”
Please notice that in Genesis 1:1 it states, “....God (Hebrew-elehiym + Yahweh) created the heavens and earth”, but in Job 28:1,4 states: verse 1) “The Lord (Yahweh) answered Job out of the storm. He said:” verse 4 “Where were you (Job) when I laid the earth’s foundation?...” So when someone asks you who made the “world” , you can answered the “Lord (Yahweh) God Almighty. It ties in very well. The pronouns like “let us make man in our image”
fits very well with 1 John 5:7-8
Beginning
What does the word “beginning” mean as in Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning...”, John 1:1 “In the beginning...” and 1 John 1:1 “...was from the beginning...”
The Greek word for “beginning” in both New Testament texts is “arche”, which means: “beginning, ruler. Christ is called the beginning, because He is the efficient cause of the creation. Rule, authority, dominion, power, position of authority (Luke 20:20, 1 Corinthians 15:24, Titus 3:1). High ranking spiritual being (Romans 8:38, Ephesians 1:21)” In Genesis, the Hebrew word is “Resiyt”, which means: The first as to place, time, order, or rank. Used to signify the beginning of a fix period of time. (Genesis 1:1, Deuteronomy 11:12)
If Jesus is not “Yahweh”, how could He say:
Revelation 22:12-13, “Behold, I am coming soon!...I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is, and who was , and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Tell me, who is “the Almighty” and “...who is to come.” What event happen at 70 AD? In Revelation 1:7, who came in 70 AD? Verse 8 has the answer. Who is coming in Revelation 22:12? Look at verse 13 has the answer. The answer to both questions is in verse 16 and 20. Jesus (Yahweh) !!
Isaiah 44:6 “This is what the Lord (Yahweh) says – Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord (Yahweh) Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is not God.
Who raised Jesus from the dead?
God----Romans 10:9 “...that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God (Greek-Theos, Hebrew-elehiym + Yahweh has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Jesus----John 2:19 “Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple (Jesus’ body), and three days I (first person) will raise it up.”
I’ll say it again the Father, Son, Holy Spirit is “Yahweh”. We don’t know all the answers or all the ends and outs. We will not be able to understand completely the complexity of the Trinity.
Who is the Rock?
II Samuel 22:2 “And he said, The Lord Yahweh) is my Rock, and my fortress, and my deliver;”
1 Corinthians 10:4 “And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock is Christ.”
Who is the true God?
Jeremiah 10:10 “But the Lord (Yahweh) is the true God, he is the living God and an everlasting King: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide His indignation.”
1 John 5:20 “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”
Notice that there some names that we do not associate with Jesus, like “Mighty God and Everlasting Father.” Who was He talking about?? In both cases “Jesus”. The Father, Son Holy Spirit is and always will be “Yahweh” !!!
Isaiah 9:6: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.”
There was a discussion on this subject that got started on Ward Fenley’s Bulletin Board recently, a question was asked, “ If you don’t believe that Jesus is Yahweh, will that effect your salvation?” As I stated above YES. I must first state that this person believes that Jesus is the Son of God, but not “is God”. I quoted the following verse:
1 John 2:23 “No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” NIV
1 John 2:23 “Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.” KJV
To translate it into English, If you deny the Son being God you also deny the Father being God, if you acknowledge the Son being God you also acknowledge the Father being God. The foundation of the Christian faith is Jesus Christ and who he is.
If you say that the Father is God, Jesus is "just" the Son of God, the Holy Spirit is God and believe that there is only one God, there seems to be a problem and yes it does effect your salvation. As I stated in this article there are verses that can prove both sides of the issue, but look at the WHOLE picture. If it was just one verse that said, Jesus is God (Yahweh), which there are many, which I have only pointed out only a few, the issue is closed.
Why did Jesus let people worship him, when the law said, “ Thou shall not have any other gods before me” .
As we notice, that the Bible is consistent in everyway. It is man that makes it inconsistent. I would like to think Ward Fenely that inspired me to write this, but most of all the Lord God, Almighty that put this in my heart and the words to write. . I welcome your comments and questions. I don’t claim to have all the answers, but this may help you in you studies.
In His Service,
Richard K. McPherson
rmcpherson@etmc.org
Real Audio John Hagee..The Secret of Knowing God
http://lightsource.broadcast.com/lightsource/content/john_hagee_today/ram/hagee_0301.ram
I really wish ola wouldn't put up self-portraits of himself....
http://www.newscientist.com/ns_images/9999/9999494F1.JPG
LOL. I'm really not worried. We get the largest snow pack on the mountain in April. Most of this is media scare so that the powers that be can have us drinking out of the Willamette.
I hope this isn't the topic of discussion today...I really want to know if Waif daughter got her bird? Or is that later???
Soren Kierkegaard
As a rule, a person knows only that this and that probably, most likely, etc. will not happen to him. If it does happen, it will be his downfall. The foolhardy person rushes headlong into a danger with this or that possibility, and if it happens, he despairs and collapses. The believer sees and understands his downfall, humanly speaking (in what has happened to him, or in what he has ventured), but he believes. For this reason he does not collapse. He leaves it entirely to God how he is to be helped, but he believes that for God everything is possible. To understand that humanly it is his downfall and nevertheless to believe in possibility is to believe. So God helps him also -- perhaps by allowing him to avoid the horror, perhaps through the horror itself -- and here, unexpectedly, miraculously, divinely, help does come. Miraculously, for it is a pecular kind of pedantry to maintain that only 1,800 years ago did it happen that a person was aided miraculously. Whether a person is helped miraculously depends essentially upon the passion of the understanding whereby he has understood that help was impossible and depends next on how honest he was toward the people that nevertheless did help him. As a rule, however, men do neither the one nor the other; they cry out that help is impossible without once straining their understanding to find help, and afterward they ungratefully lie.
The believer has the ever infallible antidote for despair -- possibility -- because for God everything is possible at every moment. This is the good health of faith that resolves contradictions. The contradiction here is that, humanly speaking, downfall is certain, but that there is possibility nonetheless. Good health generally means the ability to resolve contradictions. For example, in the realm of the bodily or physical, a draft is a contradiction, for a draft is disparately or undialectically cold and warm, but a good healthy body resolves this contradiction and does not notice the draft. So also with faith.
To lack possibility means either that everything has become necessary for a person or that everything has become trivial.
The determinist, the fatalist, is in despair and as one in despair has lost his self, because for him everything has become necessity. He is like that king who starved to death because all his food was changed to gold. Personhood is a synthesis of possibility and necessity. Its continued existence is like breathing (respiration), which is an inhaling and exhaling. The self of the determinist cannot breathe, for it is impossible to breathe necessity exclusively, because that would utterly suffocate a person's self. The fatalist is in despair, has lost God and this his self, for he who does not have a God does not have a self, either. But the fatalist has no God, or, what amounts to the same thing, his God is necessity; since everything is possible for God, then God is this -- that everything is possible. Therefore the fatalist's worship of God is at most an interjection, and essentially it is a muteness, a mute capitulation: he is unable to pray. To pray is also to breathe, and possibility is for the self what oxygen is for breathing. Nevertheless, the possibility alone or necessity alone can no more be the condition for the breathing of prayer than oxygen can alone or nitrogen alone can be that for breathing. For prayer there must be a God, a self -- and possibility -- or a self and possibility in a pregnant sense, because the being of God means that everything is possible, or that everything is possible means the being of God; only he whose being has been so shaken that he has become spirit by understanding that everything is possible, only he has anything to do with God. That God's will is the possible makes me able to pray; if there is nothing but necessity, man is essentially as inarticulate as the animals.
. . .
The philistine-bourgeois mentality lacks every qualification of spirit and is completely wrapped up in probablility, within which possibility finds its small corner; therefore it lacks the possibility of becoming aware of God . . . And if at times existence provides frightful experiences that go beyond the parrot-wisdom of routine experience, then the philistine-bourgeois mentality despairs . . . The philistine-bourgois mentality thinks that it controls possibility, that it has tricked this prodigious elasticity into the trap or madhouse of probability, thinks that it holds it prisoner; it leads possibility around imprisoned in the cage of probability, exhibits it, imagines itself to be the master, does not perceive that precisely thereby it has imprisoned itself in the tralldom of spiritlessness and is the most wretched of all. The person who gets lost in possibility soars high with the boldness of despair; he for whom everything became necessity overstrains himself in life and is crushed in despair; but the philistine-bourgeois mentality spiritlessly triumphs.
Welcome Colt......
It just feels good to be back with my original alias. LOLOLOL
PAULE!
Fellowship has everything to do spirituality. Helps to lighten the burdons of the soul.
Mornin Mrs.Vivian
Paule
Hey you are 2 hours ahead of most of us.And everybody knows that Judd need his beauty sleep
Adorable Adonis Paule
Hey hey Colt don't you know..
Were all heeled around heya. I didn't see any Yukon on that list. What’s the deal you Paule prejudice?
I like Karinnas food the best. Reminds me of, it well reminds me of, anyway it’s just hella good eatens.
Hey I posted your Bear fight link here. I thought we should get this place started off right.
Pistol packin Paule
Excel my man. Glad to see you come back into the light. This is a much better site with hands on Webmaster running the show. Not only that he's cool too. With your help I'm sure we can take this thread to places we've never been before.
I’m thinking about starting a Bible chat for the nimble fingered among us. And setting a certain day and time we can all meet in the room. A kind of Internet bible fellowship. Isn’t it wonderful being in on the ground floor? The possibilities are limitless.
Once again Welcome friend
Paule
Yard work must be contagious. Spent all day last Saturday in the yard. I have this pine tree that sheds needles all over my yard 365 a year. I filled my truck half full with just those. The other half came when I yanked the shrubs out of the ground in preparation for this retaining wall I’ve been working on for.....three years now. Neighbors reuse to contribute so I’m taking my time. It sucks using my money and labor to improve the value of their homes.
Hey you can send all that rain up our direction. We drink from the Bull Run reservoir the purest source in USA (sources say) Because of growth and low water levels they are going to start us drinking out of the Willamette the most toxic river in Portland.
JM I'm glad you made it over here. Look we are on our second venture for the Lord.
Paule
Here Here! RB sucks!!!!! This site is much better. I hear speed is going to be increased greatly in just a short period of time. People are going to flock here like gulls
How come no one is using live chat
Hey Bag I'd be glad to offer any help NYC needs.You know like when his hands hurt so bad and he wants to rest.I'll step in for ten to fifteen....
Thank you much friend