Zuihitsu, 2023-12

Technically, zuihitsu are longer reflections than what I tend to collect. But, the general idea is right. Here’s this month’s installment. If you want the complete set, please download the fortune file.

• Failure requires objectives.
• Hedges are not for keeping people out, but directing them to the path.
• Do not mistake games for wasting time.
• A society is the commingling of dreams.
• Our ideal ought to be, not union, but gravitational pull.
• Proximity to power can ensure survival in tough times.
• Carve out room for nonsense, for that which has no practical meaning.
• Code-switching is a prerequisite for survival when living among different tribes.
• Fabricated individual identities require external validation to transcend fantasy.
• Liberalism is a cult of self-creation.
• No salvation without Satan.
• A morality without mercy or forgiveness in error isn’t a morality.
• Wisdom accepts the world as it is and a role in that world. Folly is creating new worlds or living apart.
• Only sick souls find Christianity appealing.
• For a believer, chance is the work of Providence.
• Rights are founded on state power. No state, no rights.
• Modus vivendi over agreement. Promoting rights demands agreement.
• It is enough to occasionally punch a hole in the big lie.
• Materialism is the orientation of impotence.
• Ubi nihil vales, ibi nihil velis. English translation: Wherein you have no power, therein neither should you will.
• No freedom without limits.
• Science is the servant of madness.
• One right way for everyone is just another tyranny.
• Real fear or fear of a bruised ego?
• Never get between a man and his meal.
• Take your time. Go deeper. Be critical. After accepting something, reevaluate again.
• The most serious problem is the one that cannot be discussed. Marc Andreessen
• What other people think or say about me is none of my business.
• Mind your own business.
• Replacement is the most common variety of change.
• Good fiction’s job is to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.
• The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts and the stupid ones are full of confidence.—Charles Bukowski
• In your closet and your life, subtract whenever you add.
• When the wrench is on the nut, tighten it.
• Stop reaching for people who aren’t reaching back.
• Give positivity an equal chance.
• Compensation reflects the difficulty of training.
• Behavior is communication.
• An erection can not be argued with.
• Talk a dream. A plan makes it possible. Put it on a calendar and review it weekly, and it becomes real.
• Time, dry powder and patience.
• If at first you don’t succeed, try giving up and going back to bed.
• Do not be part of groups where speaking honestly is less important than some member’s comfort.
• If you trade 50:50s, you’ll end up broke.
• There are two types of investors: those that make money and those that don’t. You can learn from both.
• The money is not in the cure. The money is in the comeback.
• Be true to your truth.
• It’s expensive to own nice things.
• A fit body, a calm mind, and a house full of love are things that must be earned.
• Start in the right place.
• What type of person are you interacting with, e.g., trader, killer, influencer, maker, drone, or something else?
• Life is loss. Learning to lose and to accept limits is key to longevity.
• Success is being dumb enough to do it, and smart enough to know when to stop.
• Pain stops when you learn its lesson.
• It might not be your fault, but it is your problem.
• Fundamentalists must fight pragmatists.
• Rules are to induce conformity on a multiplicity.
• People accustomed to winning feel every loss more keenly. Privilege implies vulnerability.
• Should you do something because you want to or feel an obligation?
• True love is selfless.
• Conservative decision-making, risk mitigation, and a focus on costs over growth tends to longevity.
• Reject unfounded blame and praise.
• Imagination gives us access to strange new worlds.
• When you leave, you find out who your friends are.
• Know when something does not concern you, and you have no contribution to make.
• Kindness begins with regard for those weaker than us.
• What kind of artificial do you prefer?
• Any question asked in bad faith can be rejected, out of hand.
• No gift is free.
• Laughter should travel with empathy as a companion.
• Power shapes information to its convenience.
• Sometimes Dionysius wins.
• Education, in the modern context, is how to construct, evaluated and then reconstruct different worldviews and lens to use in problem-solving.
• Whose stories are you telling, and what are their incentives?
• You cannot forget what you don’t notice in the first place.
• Be just, and if you can’t be just, be arbitrary.
• The easiest mark to fool is The Mark Inside.
• Some ideas can only be thought outside the confines of law, tradition and other constraints.
• A bull in the bedsheets. A bear in the spreadsheets.
• Low cost, high price.
• If it sucks, don’t give any fucks.
• No man is a failure who has friends.
• The smartest side to take in a bidding war is the losing side.—Warren Buffett
• Inner speech is your flashlight in the dark room that is your mind.
• A simple life is striped of unnecessary complication.
• Enjoy what is easily available, preferring obtaining items for the least cost. Luxuries costs more than their price.
• Persuasion is often an exercise in repetition.
• Camp as Christmas. Hard as nails!
• Every civilization must contend with an unconcious force which can block, betray, or countermand almost any concious intention of the collectivity.
• Of what use is a philosopher who doesn’t hurt anybody’s feelings?―Diogenes of Sinope
• We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our education system.—Charles Bukowski
• Your scars can give someone else hope.
• Learn enough history to: 1) bear reality patiently, and 2) respect the delusions of others.
• Travelers with closed minds can tell us little except about themselves.—Chinua Achebe
• You rent bonds. You own stocks.
• No matter the color, the cat that catches mice is a good cat.
• How alive are you willing to be?
• Never give advice.
• Mediocrity reigns.
• Wisdom is discernment.
• Reduce it to its essence.
• Deal with people where the contract seems superfluous.
• Learn from other people’s mistakes.
• When something works well, keep doing it.
• Being too busy is a sign you are not thinking enough.
• Remember the essential.
• Time and compounding can beat any problem.
• Smart people often do dumb things.
• One good test is worth a thousand expert opinions.—Wernher von Braun
• Where there is no humor, there is no love.
• Life is just one big carry trade.
• The minute you understand the right thing to do, act.
• Greed and fear are the engines of manipulation.
• The moral high ground is great for sighting artillery.
• Taking responsibility for your beliefs and judgments gives you the power to change them.
• When growth is exponential, rate matters less than total time.
• Time discovers truth.—Seneca
• What’s the easiest thing you could do to make a little progress?
• Creativity is a commitment to solving new problems.
• Disagree, then commit to a course of action.
• We can learn only when we acknowledge we don’t already know.
• Being called weird is the highest praise.
• Opinions are infinite. You cannot validate them all. Put all opinions in the not enough information pile. Then, try to select a small portfolio of opinions that help explain the world and can be reality tested.
• Nothing prepares you for completing the last third. True of races, life and relationships.
• It is okay to live a life others do not understand.
• Damage is fast. Healing is slow.
• Presentation may not be everything, but it’s important.
• A college degree shows you can finish a long project.
• There are two ways to live life: as the actor or the playwright.
• Knowing something other people don’t leads to opportunity.
• A society that values individual effort over community tends to deteriorate.
• Respect the larger discussion and be flexible in your beliefs.
• Arguments are often built with logic, but they are always sold with rhetoric.
• Discovery always begins in idleness.
• The master has failed more times than the beginner has tried.
• Our trouble is not the over-all absence of smartness but the intractable power of pure stupidity.
• Instead of calling someone out, call them in: invite them to a conversation and actively listen.
• Be a fountain, not a drain.
• Walk at least a little way down into the Grand Canyon; don’t just stay up on the rim.
• Anything with a mouth can bite.
• Not my carnival, not my bearded lady.
• In a world of toxic positivity, be authentic chaos.