Aphorisms

On this page I “collect” my aphorisms:

1. The 18th century set a double trap for the human race, it invented the idea that work must have meaning and marriage must include love.
2. A prophesy is the clear vision of the past.
3. “Self-improvement” is the ascent to the perfected sameness of the lowest common denominator.
4. When a man says “think of your fellow human beings” – he means think of me only, he says “think of me” – he means think of your fellow human beings.
5. An artist lives to express his dreams, a businessman hopes to express the dreams of his customers.
6. A salesman, a shrink and a rabbi are in the business of dream interpretations. They are interchangeable but neither can make you dream.
7. A story is a lie about the past, a prayer is a lie about the future, both conspire against the present.
8. For the civilizations held together by the canonical texts, the capacity to observe is an urgent threat.
9. A businessman hopes for a smile from God, and a Rabbi hopes for a smile from a businessman.
10. A whore dreams only about love, a priest dreams only about sex.
11. The primary purpose of joining a group is the sweet comfort of being surrounded by the even more delusional friends.
12. A person who accuses others of living in a “la la land” himself holds the passport.
13. Prisons celebrate freedom, offices celebrate vacations, borders celebrate tourism (and wars), religions celebrate sin.
14. Every civilization, state or religion works hard to downgrade love and elevate fear and then they act surprised that people are unhappy.
15. Patterns – the last refuge from the dread of randomness.
16. Friendship is a slow process of learning not to take anything your friends say seriously.
17. By the time a modern man merits a diploma, the chances of persevering his humanity are far less than that of a mammoth-hunting savage.
18. In a historic reversal a modern man reserves the agony for himself and smiles for the strangers.
19. To speak with certainty about the past is worse than to predict the certain future.

New Aphorisms:

1. The other part of the “truth hurts” is that lies give pleasure.
2. Leonardo wrote from right to left so he didn’t have to deal with the commentary.
3. Rationalization is the immune system of the soul, more harm people inflict, more righteous they feel about it.
4. A strong identity to life is what sheet of ice to driving, once you used to ice, you can’t drive on a road.
5. Chicken or the egg problem: accepting the world or ignoring it, which came first?
6. Before humans and animals parted ways, both used to gain weight in the summer and starve in the winter.
7. Humans survive by hope alone, animals live without hope. Is that why animals are always happy?
8. Identity is the most undiagnosed forms of addiction.
9. There are only two kinds of people, the more you know them, the more you like them and the more you know them the less you like them.
10. After a brain injury the surviving cells establish new connections and pathways in  an attempt to recover the lost functions. A human conversation is like that – an expression of disconnection.