A Stroll in the Garden of Wisdom

Beauty is in itself an advanced level of aesthetic appreciation, and the ne plus ultra level of Beauty as such, will constitute the perfected state of refinement, thus the divine and the godly Grace in all its form and manner manifested.

Human, qua Human, as such, by nature and by default has a fallible and irrational side of him/her self. That is the Case. It is the exercise of virtue, that is, by means of rational faculty and self-perfection, to check the fallible and irrational aspect of him/her self, and that constitutes Excellence, the ultimate purpose of being a human.

Common Sense is by and large good but not perfect.

War is a necessary evil as part of the package for the perfection of the human race.

Game is essential for survival, procreation, and means for Excellence.

All games have three possible outcomes: a tie, a gain, and a loss.

Life is a game, play it, enjoy it, profit from it, and learn from it to the best of one's capability.

A game played on an open-ended course of duration in perpetuity will be meaningless because other than ties, which are neutral thus invalid, the gains and losses will always compensate each others. Therefore, all games have to be timed, as life itself is timed, so that an outcome can be reached.

All mortal beings have the potentiality for Excellence.

Freedom is the exercise of Free Will, which engages in the act of free choices by means of rationality. Freedom is NOT the same as solely engaging in impulsive and licentious behaviors, because such conduct is SUBJECTED to one's instinct and passion, thus in theory, not free. The usage of words like freedom and liberty is so casual and mundane that it had already shed much of their sacred substances, because the true and pure realm of Freedom is still very sparsely populated. A free man by definition has to be free both physically and spiritually. his physical freedom means that he is not a slave, a serf, or an indentured laborer. His spiritual freedom means that both his acts and intellectual disposition are reached solely based on his own Free Will, and free from the influences and subjugation of other entities such as peer pressure, group behavior, consumer fetishism, and above all, his own natural instincts and passion. Freedom is above animal kingdom, bondage, civilization, it is the highest level of a state of being that one aspires to.

Free Will is the independent action made by an individual without the constraints and obligation of any a priori prerequisites, even though the decision and the action he/she makes might appeared to be a far cry from Freedom. Thus, in theory, one could sustain the exercise of Free Will at all time given he/she is conscious and rational, but in practice he/she will never be in the realm of Freedom at all time. The key here is the free exercise of Volition, after a careful examination and analysis of a priori prerequisites, which could be constraining at times, nevertheless, one comes to an independent self-made determination and resolution. Free Will is relatively a young brainchild in the history of ideas, most deliberated in the West for their peculiar vocation on ideas such as Freedom, Liberty, and Liberation. Free Will is an inalienable part of Human Rights, and should be promoted & encouraged as a prudential cause for Excellence.    

Metaphysical intellectual engagement inevitably disposes one on the philosopher's P.O.V. and he naturally philosophizes on the essence and forms of Everything - an ontological Quest.

Language is a verbal means of communication which consists of the basic components of syntax and grammar, and requires a relative degree of intelligence in order to conduct and execute interpersonal communication in a rational, logical, and intelligible manner. To wit, only humans engage in linguistic communication, animals engage in communication no doubt, but not LINGUISTIC communication.


Prophets are those ones who shout "eureka", who came to understand the "hows", "whats", and "whys" of things and matters, and they begin to tell people. However, people initially will almost certainly be reluctant to hear and learn from them, because "ignorance is bliss", and "pure ignorance" is "Pure Bliss"; that is, infants, which isn't always necessarily a bad thing.

Amorous relationship is rooted in the evolutionary sexual selection, complicated by human intelligence/folly, personal disposition, and psychological idiosyncrasies, which could be innately flawed, fallible, unpredictable, and irrational, thus ultimately constitutes as a helpless manifestation of the so-called "tragedy of the commons", in which we act independently by consulting our own self-interest and limited knowledge of the given situation, but nonetheless ultimately depleted a shared limited resource (in this case mutual love) even though when it is clear that it isn't both parties' intention for this to happen; albeit that the participants him / her self cannot even rationally and methodically elucidate such deplorable consequence. Having said, it is nonetheless a gift of joie de vivre from God, and a quintessential aspect of life to make our life fuller, richer, via tear and laughter, spiritual torment, physical exhaustion, and bodily pain, because at the end of the day, we will learn from the experiences and lessons, and thus enrich our insight and wisdom of Humanity. 

Less is more, more is less.

You who laugh now, cry harder. You who cry now, smile and become happier afterwards.

The more you know, the more you feel how little you know; the less you know, the more you feel you know it all.

If you think HARD, you are not on the right track.

Hubris, Gk: ὕβρις, is the capital crime/sin against God's Will. The commitment of which is proportionally retributed by Nemesis (goddess of retribution). Hubris is NOT justifiable and substantiated Pride, but a disregard of public interest, greater good, norms && tradition, law & ration, morality & ethics, but an action & behavior that's engaged solely in the interest of Egoism, Narcissism, and the wanton lust & avarice for Power. Hubris, by default, is caused by ignorance & megalomania.

Quid pro quo is a truism.

Murphy's law is a truism.

Take it easy: a truism.

The character and the manifestation of "genius" is the ability to make apparent and elucidate things which are already in existence and obvious, but just so happened to have never been thought of and seen before the genius yelled "eureka"!

Virtue cannot be taught in a didactic manner as in teaching someone how to cook. It could only be influenced, inspired, and enlightened. The most honorable, magnanimous, powerful, and virtuous person will humble himself to the MOST disgraceful, despicable, pitiful, and vicious person, because all are God's creatures, and those unfortunate ones are simply the astray lambs who are entitled to sympathy & mercy. Thus, when Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross, he implored to God: "please forgive them, for they know not what they do". (Luke 23:34 KJV)

An expatiation of Manhood: "man is created in the image of God", which implies that all men are children of God, therefore all men possess the POTENTIALITY to be in touch by the Grace of God, and thus be inspired to perform God's Will. Manhood is not Childhood or Womanhood, even though they share certain similarities just like a cat is not a lynx even though they all display feline characteristics. Manhood for MEN is the sequential stage following childhood in which a man realizes all of his potentials to the best of his ability through trials and tests. The pure essence of manhood is the sheer manifestation of the WILL TO POWER. A man shall perceive his life as a constant battleground. Short peace & respite is the preparation for new battles to be fought, reculer pour mieux sauter, for which there shall only be nothing but one aim in mind - victory. The goal of manhood to strive for in his ultimate aspiration is Excellence, and according to Nietzsche: "man is something that is to be surpassed"(Thus Spake Zarathustra). In manhood one forges his will of steel, hones his intellectual edge, develops his virtues & Honor, and ultimately, seeks the Holy Grail of Wisdom.    

Mathematics is the Queen of Science, and Philosophy, the King of Science.

Most people laugh and eat themselves to death.

Most people are distracted for the most part of their lives. 

Every man is ultimately a lone man. His ultimate life-long and most faithful companion is that Higher Being we know by the name, God, our heavenly father, for he created us and loves us. However, far too many, do not love and respect Him.

A true wise man shall be happy and content through the end of his days. Daoist philosophers Lao Zi 老子& Zhuang Zi 庄子 shall come to one's mind.

There shall not be a conflict between one's spiritual faith and the pursuit of scientific knowledge.

The three-fold mental occupations are: 1st Cognition, 2nd Intelligence, and 3rd Imagination.

The two essential qualitative attitudes to ensure the victory of a battle are equanimity & apathy.

Life is a tragedy. We just try our best to stall the calamity from actually happening, and luckily in our course of brief life span, most of us "luck out" by means of Will, Virtue, Honor, Ethics, Morality, and last but not least, Chance.

Comedy is tragedy glossed with wit & humor.

Noble. It is not necessarily the conferring of title that makes a person noble, rather, it is a person's commitment to the tenacious pursuit & and the assiduous preoccupation in noble causes & enterprises that ennobles such individual.

Belletrist. If one treats his/her way of writing with great consideration of its aesthetic form, style, manner, its elegance, grace, substance & value, as an art, then he/she is a belletrist.

All are in flux when they should be still.

All are being distracted when they should be focused.

Man is a contradiction. It is a Given. He is assigned with a mission in this mortal realm: to surpass himself. That is the Goal.

Character shall be constantly forged through crucibles in which one cultivates one's virtue, because in the end, character is Destiny.

Social ritual is an integral part of human civilization. It originated from the animal kingdom where human once belong. It defines social hierarchy, reinforces social bonding, formulates sexual courtship, and establishes norms, rules, regulations, and laws for people to observe as guideline for social behavior. The standard of civilization correlates to the standard of its ritualism. The more advance a society is, the more ritualized its everyday activities become. The Chinese Confucian considered the diligent observation of rituals, or Li 礼, as an integral component of virtues of a junzi 君子, a gentleman of noble character and integrity. Nevertheless, in comparison, a junzi's observation of rituals is within the moral domain, whereas a gaudy mediocre nouveau riche's observation of rituals, such as manicure/pedicure, fashion, gourmet cuisine, etc., is largely due to vanity. The very existence of ritual as a human behavioral phenomenon and its continuous refinement is due to Evolution, to wit, nature selection & sexual selection. It is an indispensable component of social necessity that is ubiquitous in every facet, class, and realm of society, which in turn, ensures the maintenance and survival of an individual, a family, a clan, an organization, a nation-state, and ultimately, a species as a whole.   

What is happiness? Happiness is the enjoyment and engagement of pleasure. "Happy" comes from the word "hap", an old Norse word meaning "luck", therefore implying that the enjoyment of happiness is being lucky, a rather unsophisticated worldview. "Pleasure" is better defined; it comes from the old French word meaning "being pleased". Here is the point where we can investigate the physiology, the nature, and the qualitative substance of Pleasure, simply because there are many forms and degrees of pleasure, and animals certainly enjoy it too; are ours and animals' quality of pleasure the same? On the most fundamental level, i.e. corporeal, emotional, and material, yes, albeit with a nuance of varied degree. People all enjoy a sense of pleasure when otherwise free from physical ailment, mental illness, and/or depression, we are pleased when being well-fed, situated in comfort/warmth, and experiencing love and joy. In the realm of human recreational capacity, their qualities and substance of pleasure is far more diversified and manifold than animal's recreational pleasure, even radicalized to the point of perversion, such as pyromania, kleptomania, pedophilia, voyeurism, S&M, fetishism, to name but a few. Indeed, one person's pleasure could be another's abhorrence. Nevertheless, categorically speaking, all of these forms of pleasure originated from the instinctual impulse, it is only when mobilizing the entire domain of human faculty that one will find the ultimate sense of pleasure/happiness/bliss/blessing. Indeed the English language is here in a bit of poverty to describe such state-of-mind that we have to borrow from the Greek: eudaimonia, literally meaning "good spirit", which implies living and doing well in the sense that the true essence of human good is flourishing and prospering within oneself. Aristotle is the one who expounded on this subject when he attempted to seek out the most perfect life. In his treatise, Nicomachean Ethics, he explains that there are three ways of life, on the most fundamental, as explained before, is the instinctual "creature comfort", a life of carnal/material pleasure: bios apolaustikos, which really implies a life of addiction. Then, since human are endowed with the gift of reasoning, it follows that the most perfected life is the contemplation of things of First Importance and Great Excellence: bios theoretikos, which means a life of intellectual preoccupation. Finally, there are men/women with courage & virtue & will power, who take action in order to better the world and in turn, bettering themselves: bios politikos, which means embarking on a life of political enterprise. All in all, the highest stage of Happiness requires a great deal of virtue, excellence, perseverance, and faith. It is only when one harmonizes the three forms of life described above, can one achieve the ne plus ultra state of eudaimonic being, and this, shall be considered the highest level of Happiness. It goes without saying that when one is engaged in such state of mind, he/she is content, tranquil, peaceful, effortless,fulfilled, perfected, and complete. In the Western sense, he/she is blessed with the Grace of God. In the Chinese sense, he/she is at one with Dao 道. In the Buddhist sense, he/she has achieved Nirvana निर्वाण. 

The Last Man. The Nietzschean idea of the "Last Man", or letzte mensch, refers to the ultimate categorical mankind in accordance with his own mundane being, existence, and disposition. He is the antithesis of the Nietzschean Übermensch, or "overman"/"superman", whom Nietzsche sees as man's ultimate aspiration, as he often reiterates, especially in Thus Spake Zarathustra: "man is something that is to be surpassed". By default, as the economical, political, and technological trend progresses, men inevitably and unwittingly becomes the "Last Man", as the generic consumer in the modern democratic and capitalistic society that we live in today, which, according to Francis Fukuyama, is the Final Stage of human history as he put it: "the End of History". The "Last Man" is a logical produce of German Idealism, most significantly deduced from Hegelian dialectics, i.e. thesis-antithesis-synthesis, he is a man devoid of thumos (Gk.), meaning chest/spiritedness, or metaphorically, aspiration, that is, to aspire to some upper stage of "being" and beyond. He lives in a materialistic world, he works, pays his taxes, votes, talks the talk and walks the walk, consumes and exhibits his urbanity; a philistine or an amateur connoisseur of sorts that he is, nevertheless, engages in a life of "rottenness and wormeatenness", according to Nietzsche: he is a member of the herd, who does not understand or even intend to comprehend the Nature of his suffering and misery.   

American Psycho. Bret Ellis' fictional character, Patrick Bateman, from his postmodern/transgressive novel, American Psycho, is an intriguing individual worth analyzing from a philosophical and sociological perspective. Complying with the ideas of the existentialist school, he is a continuation from the characters written by Camus and Sartre, accentuated by a high-octane perversion and psychopathic disposition. Nevertheless, he is able to achieve a quasi-cult following precisely due to the fact that the readers identify with his vivid desperation and his abysmal sense of frustration by trapping in this consumer-fetishistic and commodity-materialistic society, and that there is "NO EXIT". He is the archetypal embodiment of the Nietzschean "Last Man", but furthermore, because the "Last Man" has already been desensitized and simply become the docile Hindu cow, and yet, Bateman, being super smart and acutely witty about things and his surroundings, he feels a profound sense of alienation, "on the verge of frenzy". He is the offspring of those who has already climbed to the top of the social ladder, thanks to his progenitors through innumerable generations, however, he has become lost in touch with Humanity and felt that his soul being fettered in this existential living hell. He feels imprisoned in the materialistic and physical shell, and yet he revels and indulges in it like fish in the water, and he acerbically confides: " all it comes down to is: I feel like shit but look great"! He is ultra-narcissistic, and obsessive/compulsive, a rather ubiquitous trait of modern era, if not a necessary evil of capitalism, but he behaves helplessly to oblige to such fetishism, in the meantime satisfies his desperation with sadistic & misogynistic passion for murders and torture. However, the reader gets the impression toward the end of the novel that these homicides/tortures might be just his delusions or hallucinations, or simply his imagination even though the author intentionally left it ambiguous and subject it to the reader's own interpretation. All in all, it is a fiction which is meant to be iconic, metaphorical, and hyperbolic as a literary style; it speaks to a wide range of audience who empathize with Bateman's dilemma, helplessness, and frustration, a default consequence of material indulgence, the pillar of capitalism. My own take is that Bateman, as an epitome of the "Last Man", is pitiful and miserable due to his folly, hubris, and trapping in this gilded age. Being highly intelligent as his natural endowment, he could have metamorphosized out of his cocoon, his own crucible, thus becomes enlightened and invests his wits into any positive enterprises, such as his talent for music review, etc.     

Aesthetic Appreciation is a cognitive faculty that all animals, including human possess as an instinctive psychological behavior. The cause of which is rooted in the sexual/reproductive drive. It is an evolutionary trait, and a basic integral psychological component which in turn, by means of reproduction, ensures the survival of a species. Thus, animals are beautiful, and all appreciate their form of beauty, say, a peacock, a stag, a bull walrus, a lion, etc. We human, however, has taken the degree of the appreciation of aestheticism to a whole other level. On our lowest level, we appreciate lovely manicure, gaudy fashion, beautiful people, as an unconscious manifestation of the sexual/reproductive drive. Then, we appreciate art, the crown jewel of human civilization, a distinct phenomenon reserved to human only, which is something Freud considered as Sublimation. That is, we channeled the basic biological instinct into a transcendent realm of appreciation. The manner of such appreciation varied from individual to individual according to his idiosyncratic disposition, personality, and penchant. Generally speaking, people with less artistic cultivation appreciate something they see as tangible and realistic. People with more and sophisticated artistic training and cultivation can be able to appreciate the more abstract form of art and even the ultimate non-objective art, say, a Jackson Pollock or Mark Rothko painting. They learn to appreciate the level of its intellectual sophistication, artistic depth, and philosophical conception, and its aesthetic presence either two-dimensional or three-dimensional. Hence, people marvel and be completely in awe when encounter a great piece of artwork, say, a Caravaggio painting or a Bernini sculpture. The appreciation of Music and Architecture falls relatively along the same line, therefore the German philosopher Schelling remarked: "architecture is frozen music". The appreciation of religious themed artworks should be noted separately, being generally realistic in style, they however, speak to the audience in a different manner. The audience appreciate the artwork starting from a traditional platform on the face value, i.e. a nice picture, but depart to a spiritual and theological level, which is a whole different realm - the realm of the Divine.

Money, that filthy lucre, isn't it the central thesis everything revolves around? Millions slaughtering each other for its sake, billions toiling for its sake, one wonders why? Fundamentally, money is the means of subsistence in human society. It is one's life line for shelter, warmth, water, and food. Without which one only faces death. It is a sophisticated manner of the maintenance of livelihood. Only human CARES about money, whereas animals only care about things, like food/water/sex that they really need. Furthermore, money is the means to power, glory, and pleasure, and therefore an indicator of social status. Generally, people assume the higher one is on the social ladder, the more money/power/possession he has at his disposal; but this is where things get tricky, for money qua money, does NOT entail qualitative rewards necessarily, one could be poor materially but rich in spirit, and one could be rich materially but poor in spirit. The obsession over money authenticates a human FOLLY, i.e., ignorance and a default tendency for debauchery. Therefore: money is NOT the END, but a MEANS to an END!

What is "BEING"(v.) (n.)? Being is time. It is a philosophical, ontological, and metaphysical inquiry. 'Being" is becoming, and part of believing: "cogito ergo sum", according to Cartesian deduction. (1) On the most basic level, "being" is being alive physically. In this sense, man is being alive in the same way as a plant and an animal are alive, nevertheless, man's "being" is certainly much higher and more substantial. (2) Next comes the emotional engagement as part of "being", in this sense our "being" differs from a mushroom's "being", but animals experience emotional engagement as well, are we "being" the same as animals? Partly so, but man's "being" is still potentially much more potent than animals', nevertheless, a contrarian could argue that it is merely a differentiation of degrees, not forms. (3) Even granted so, then comes to the intellectual engagement as part of "being". Even though animals do demonstrate some forms of intellectual faculty, but due to their natural endowment, theirs are very limited comparing to man's higher intelligence and boundless imagination. Animals look at a star as what it is, but man looks at a star and wonders what is its chemical construct, how far is it from us, a bunch of them makes up a constellation that looks like a lion, etc. Therefore, man's quality of "being" is much more alive, vivid, and engaging than animal's. In essence, the more intellectual engagement one occupies in, the more one feels alive. (4) Finally, there's the spiritual/abstract aspect of "being", which is only reserved in the domain of human faculty. Thus, only man can say: "I feel 'being' in the presence of God's Grace", only then, "being" is being PERFECTED.

What is the "middle-class value"? That is, in the sense of modern/westernized standards; it is a value of the majority; it is a value of the evolutionary/survival herd instinct. It is what I considered a vice/virtue equilibrium, in which the positive and the negative reciprocate and complement each other, such as on the one hand, there are diligence, observation of courtesy and ethical norms, and tendency toward upward-progressive social mobility, while on the other hand, you've got the pursuit of corporeal-material pleasure and gratification, parochialism, and the general ignorance of the Highest Knowledge, the nature and essence of things and matter in their totality and integrity. However, it is plausible to speculate that it will eventually become the Ultimate Value of Humanity by and large as we are progressing toward the End of History and the Last Man because it is the safest modus operandi &  modus vivendi to govern a society and to maintain social order and harmony. Having said, if one is determined to pursuit a Higher Level of consciousness and awareness, the "middle-class value" is to be at least neutralized if not subverted completely to begin with. 

The History of Philosophy and the Philosophy of History are two quite different things. The former is a chronological narration on the history of ideas, whereas the latter, takes on a metaphysical examination on the philosophical nature and morals of History qua History. Therefore, a historian investigates the contents of the history of philosophy, but a historicist/philosopher ruminates on the philosophy drawn from the lessons of History. That is, History as a whole, both human and natural. The history of philosophy is told as a story: in the beginning there're the Upanishads and Homeric epics; the pre-Socratics and the Greek Academy; then the great sages came along and the shroud of Dark Age followed; then the Christian scholasticism and came the Renaissance, Reformation, Enlightenment, American & French revolutions, Capitalism & Marxism, Darwin & Freud, WWI & WWII, existentialism & Post-Modernism, and so on. But the philosophy of history takes on a whole different perspective: it scrutinizes on the Nature of Man and the history he makes: where he comes from (animal), who he is (savage, barbarian, slave, plebeian, patrician, serf, aristocracy, priest, conqueror, capitalist, bourgeois, proletariat, consumer), what kind of history he made (hunter-gatherer, slavery, theocracy, feudalism, authoritarianism, mercantilism, colonialism, imperialism, totalitarianism, democracy, capitalism, communism), and where he's going (the End of History and the Last Man), and how (by historic/material dialectics) and why (human wisdom, virtue/vice, folly & sin), and what if otherwise (Übermensch), and so on. 
                                                                                                                                                           
The Smart Ones are those who keep their eyes open, and their mouths shut.

Obstacles & Difficulties. When we encounter them, however big and small, break them down into fragments & sections, and then negotiate and conquer them each by each, one by one.

Progress. It is only through the Struggle of Opposites that makes progress possible.

Phenomena & Noumena. It is phenomena that animate this world. However, it is noumena that substantiate this world.

Much of the world is a tautology.

Genius is someone who thinks outside of the box.

Imagination ;is a mental faculty only reserved to the human race. It is a gift of God in order to promote human to arise above the animal kingdom. It is the sole agent responsible for the evolution & progression of mankind.

I enjoy the sound of the chirping birds in the early morning, the spring clicking of an automatic black ballpoint pen, the clicking of the keyboard, and the flipping pages of a thoughtful book.                                                                                                                                                                       
Irrational Thinking. Why do people BELIEVE in irrational things? That is, things which cannot be rationally and logically deduced and explained? For example, superstition, religious belief, cultural stereotypes, nationalism / chauvinism, love, substance abuse, etc. It is a philosophical, epistemological, and ethical inquiry. To answer this, an a priori has to be established: namely, men are partially IRRATIONAL BEING, or the so-called Freudian id / libido knows no rational and logical boundary. Nevertheless, men feel a need, a compulsive / obsessive attachment to those irrational entities, without which he feels an incompleteness in his life. The reason of which varies from cultural and social upbringing, traumatic experiences, sexual repression, spiritual emptiness, ignorance, political and religious fanaticism, or downright obstinacy, which is a human desideratum as a remnant of the evolutionary survival instinct, because things / opinions that are not your own cannot be easily trusted and / or they are otherwise potentially pernicious. One can only be cured of irrational belief by exercising one's own FREE WILL, and his intellectual rational and logical faculty. Only by then he finds out that how all of these irrational belief & infatuations are completely arbitrary, contingent, headstrong, addictive, and fetishistic, which are incidentally, also a central reason and cause to both his happiness and / or misery.

Truth is too profound, too heavy, too abstruse, too BRIGHT, too enigmatic, too confused, too complicated for people to comprehend. It is also too dangerous, like the RING in the Lord of the Ring. Someone like Nietzsche discovered it and became an invalid and went mad. Jesus discovered it but got himself nailed onto a wooden cross. Someone like Hitler discovered it but manipulated and abused it, which caused a world-class mayhem and the Holocaust. Others, discovered it but it did not necessarily bring them the "mundane / spiritual" joy. After all, we are all still human, more often than not, it only brings them suffering, sorrow, solitude, and desperation. But it is also addictive, because it is part of what we are, therefore it also brings one pleasure, like a drug, ecstasy, revelation, epiphany, bliss, and blessing. It is a double-edged sword, it destroys and creates. After all, it not only gives life, but more importantly, gives the meaning of life. Therefore, Truth should only be accessible to the mighty, wise, virtuous, honorable, and courageous individuals.