GNP

Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product ... if we should judge America by that - counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for those who break them. It counts the destruction of our redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and the cost of a nuclear warhead, and armored cars for police who fight riots in our streets. It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children.

"Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it tells us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans."

R.F. Kennedy

As much as this kind of speeches move us, inspire within us a burning passion, it seems as though we are always ready to go back to our old ways after a night's sleep...

Pointing the right way

If you immediately know the candlelight is fire, then the meal is cooked long ago.

If you already have a preconceived idea, then your mind is made up and closed to alternatives.

Take some time to consider this.

Immanuel Kant in his definition of the moral law - that because the reason in me is the same as the reason in you (we share a common capacity to reason), from this common ground, we can then reason out a moral law that is universal.

That meaning that circumstances cannot extenuate one from the moral law. There are no circumstances that can make us come to a compromise that the moral law can be broken. Every single time you break the moral law, it is out of choice and by the act of choosing, you decide your moral value.

And indeed, the universe is vast, and we are so small. In the end, there is only one thing we can truly control - whether we are good, or evil.

Atonement

One day others may try to convice you they have forgiven you. That is more about them than you. For them, imparting forgiveness is a blessing. How do I go on? It is simple. You will never forgive yourself. Accept it. You hurt others, many others. That cannot be undone. You will never find personal retribution. But your life does not have to end. That which is right, just, and true can still prevail. If you do not fight for what you believe in, all may be lost for everyone else. But do not fight for yourself. Fight for others — others that may be saved through your effort. That is the least you can do

Quoted from Stargate

Biggest Mistake

It took just a dinner to realise my greatest folly.

Atonement.

It took me an entire weekend to come up with the word. The previous considerations were "karma", "retribution" and "punishment", but they all did not fit the description of the situation- there was no spite involved.

I guess it is a small step forward nonetheless. It's like finding yourself after being lost for ages.

crashed and burned

A random epiphany just hit me and I'm wondering if it's a sign or a coincidence... Nonetheless, I'm already drifting, like always, but somehow this time it seems different.