We don't know what may yet happen to us, what military and political defeats we may yet have to face.
Zen is influenced by Daoism, which is not so much a nature-religion in the animistic sense as a nature-philosophy in a cosmic sense.
I went for a walk in the rain. Recently, whenever it rains, I feel like I want to go for a walk.
This is part of the fundamental character of Buddhism that I find problematic - that it is not interested in anything. Hence the 'Fascination' in the title of the essay, the fascination of art and creativity, stands in opposition to what is called 'Liberation'.
The research reading I did for Fascination and Liberation included some Jung, and I noticed that he had a similar impression of Buddhism to myself, that, if it weren't for certain qualifying clauses, the philosophy would be downright suicidal.
I have a sense of them being Easter religions, for some reason. Christianity, of course, is a mystery religion, too, and I believe that Arthur Machen was one of those especially interested in the link between the pagan mysteries and the Christian ones. So, my experience was also a Machenesque experience.
It would be hard to say that exactly, but antinatalism is a reality in my life, not just an interesting idea. I can feel it in the chilled and weary marrow of my bones.
We don't stoop to the level of our worst critics, no matter how much we may find them to be annoying.
Throughout my whole swimming career, I've never been disqualified once. I've never been warned once.
The people is dead! Good-day, Self!
I like grit, I like love and death, I'm tired of irony. . . . A lot of good fiction is sentimental. . . . The novelist who refuses sentiment refuses the full spectrum of human behavior, and then he just dries up. . . . I would rather give full vent to all human loves and disappointments, and take a chance on being corny, than die a smartass.