Aphorisms, Flights of Fancy & Pearls of Wisdom

 

 Ordinary days are not placeholders, they are the substance of life itself.

To think is to speak low; to speak is to think loud.

We only live once but, if we do it right, once is enough.

 

We all make mistakes, but I do it better than most.

His kidney stones are so large that they should be a registered weapon.

 

Culture is a wonderful thing, but it is limiting to underestimate ignorance. Sometimes a simplified, even simplistic view of things can help in making a decision. An educated person sees the complexity of things and often remains paralyzed. 

 

 

The Unanswered Question: or better, a question no one wishes to answer: currently, about eight billion human beings inhabit planet Earth. I wonder how many of them enjoy a serene and fulfilling life, one that leads them to old age and to the acceptance of death with a sense of gratitude and fulfillment for what they have experienced over the years.

 

Revolutions are conceived by idealists, carried out by fanatics, and exploited by opportunists.

 

Truth does not exist but lies certainly do!  

 

The only good reason for being a musician is that you can’t help it.

 

Stoicism in a nutshell: everything you attach to your life brings obligations, responsibilities and worries.

 

Genius can one only admire and, perhaps, envy. Yet it neither teaches goodness nor the art of being happy.

 

Enduring suffering is never easy. It seems to me that one can manage it better when one suffers for a cause, for an ideal, or to save someone one loves. This is the case of people who, even when subjected to cruel torture, nevertheless manage not to speak and not to betray their friends, their comrades-in-arms, or the person they love.

 

The overwhelming majority of dogs show that they have a good character. They show it day after day, at every moment of the day. The same cannot be said of human beings.

 

Adorno: one of those thinkers about whom you can allow yourself to express any consideration or judgment at all. Whatever you say, you will be half right and half wrong.

 

The tragedies of the past cease to weigh upon the present. No one today grieves for those who died in the Peloponnesian War or the Thirty Years’ War; likewise, our descendants will not grieve for the tragedies of our time.

  

Education is a great thing, but it would be a mistake to underestimate ignorance. Educated people see the complexity of reality; the uneducated see things more simply. It may happen that the simplified, essential view of the uneducated provides a more reliable basis for those who wish to act.

 

The symbol of Christianity is the cross—an instrument of torture and death. One is tempted to think that, had Christ lived during the French Revolution, the symbol of Christianity would be the guillotine.

 

‘Classical’ music is that repertoire whose quasi-sacred aura kindly allows musically uncultivated performers to fancy themselves as arbiters of culture.

 

It is understandable that old people often remember the past. It is in fact rare for them to take an interest in the future, for the simple reason that the future does not belong to them. The past is all they have.

 

Comedians and humorists are almost always truly serious people.

Optimism is already a form of pessimism, because if things normally went well in this world there would be no need to be optimistic. 

 

Beauty doesn’t last forever… but ugliness, unfortunately, does!

 

The law applies equally to everyone — verdicts don’t.

When we launch ourselves into the battle for knowledge, it is a foregone conclusion that we shall be defeated. We can only hope that we will be granted the honors of war.