“Who Let the Dogs Out?”    -Anslem Douglas

“It’s amazing how good governments are, given their track record in almost every other field, at hushing up things like alien encounters…The truth may be out there, but lies are inside your head.”

Terry Pratchett in Hogfather, New York: Harper Torch, 1996, page 188.

“My life is about turning concepts into useful products.”    -Bill Squire

“When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty.”
-George Bernard Shaw

What is significant about this viewpoint concerning the evil of “selfishness” is in how many versions it has appeared throughout human history. Don’t be selfish—subordinate your interests to those of the tribe. Don’t be selfish—subordinate your interests to those of the family. Don’t be selfish—sacrifice for the Pharaoh, Emperor, King, Church, Country, Race, State, Proletariat, Society, or Globe. Remember: Service is your noblest goal; selfishness is the root of all evil.
In this doctrine, selfishness is presumed to be narrow, petty, small-minded, materialistic, immature, narcissistic, anti-social, exploitative, mean-spirited, arrogant, ruthless, indifferent, cruel, and potentially murderous. These traits are evidently regarded as being to one’s self-interest, since they are labeled as expressions of selfishness. It is interesting to speculate about the psychology of those who believe this. By my own understanding I would say that these traits are self-destructive and that self-destruction is not to one’s self-interest.

If one’s goal is a happy and fulfilling life, self-interest is best served by rationality, productivity, integrity, and a sense of justice and benevolence in dealings with others. It is served by learning to think long-range and to project the consequences of one’s actions, which means learning to live responsibly. Irresponsibility is not to one’s self-interest. And neither is mindlessness, dishonesty, or brutality.

-Nathaniel Branden

Set goals that dont feel all that easy, that challenge you, stimulate you, and that give you a chance to stretch and push yourself. That is where the power of growth lies.

— Nathaniel Branden

I am learning to be patient and compassionate with myself
as I gain the courage to be true to myself.
-Shakti Gawain, Living in the Light

Not by harming life
Does one become noble.
One is termed noble
For being gentle
To all living things.

-Dhammapada, 19, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

“I would rather have people hate me for whom I am, than love me for whom I am not” Kurt Cobain

“I would rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy” Tom Waits

To be GOVERNED is to be watched, inspected, spied upon, directed, law-driven, numbered, regulated, enrolled, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, checked, estimated, valued, censured, commanded, by creatures who have neither the right nor the wisdom nor the virtue to do so. To be GOVERNED is to be at every operation, at every transaction noted, registered, counted, taxed, stamped, measured, numbered, assessed, licensed, authorized, admonished, prevented, forbidden, reformed, corrected, punished. It is, under pretext of public utility, and in the name of the general interest, to be place[d] under contribution, drilled, fleeced, exploited, monopolized, extorted from, squeezed, hoaxed, robbed; then, at the slightest resistance, the first word of complaint, to be repressed, fined, vilified, harassed, hunted down, abused, clubbed, disarmed, bound, choked, imprisoned, judged, condemned, shot, deported, sacrificed, sold, betrayed; and to crown all, mocked, ridiculed, derided, outraged, dishonored. That is government; that is its justice; that is its morality. -Pierre-Joseph Proudhon