Category Archives: Conversations

More developed ideas, conversations, narratives, and philosophies.

2. Pay attention

One book of Jiddu Krishnamurti’s lectures refers to the Flame of Attention, pointing out that the meaning of the word “attention” is a reminder of the perils of constant watchfulness – you must be “at-tension”, so at any moment you … Continue reading

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1. Don’t Worry About Death

I can honestly say that right now, I don’t worry all that much about dying. I don’t fear what is, or isn’t, to come. I thank my parents, and their introduction to their parents’ religion, but an otherwise free-thinking non-religious … Continue reading

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Using Twenty Questions as a Starting Point

Maybe a better way of organizing a life is using something like Franklin’s admirable virtues and contrasting one’s life events against it. In that vein, Sarah Blakewell’s How to Live, or a Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty … Continue reading

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On Discussing Beginnings

Discussing beginnings always degenerates into some kind of talk about the universe, spirituality, theology or at the very least physical philosophy – because when speaking in the present, it is usually assumed there is a past. A place where, at … Continue reading

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Each thing that starts must have an end

Each thing that starts must have an end; for every wax there is a wend that once begun, moves to its finish. Every birth has “bury” in it. My earliest memory is of walking down the street beside my mother, … Continue reading

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The wise men all say look within

The wise men all say look within; and still, we focus outward. Is it because we’re deaf, or stupid? Maybe we’re just cowards. In so many ways, our memories are like poetry: distillations of images that if given too much … Continue reading

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Memory is the Greatest Weapon

Memory is the greatest weapon in love’s mad arsenal. I wrote that line when I was 26 years old. It still rings true – although as I get older it seems often it is a weapon for good, a defensive … Continue reading

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