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Sunday, January 01, 2012
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IS THE CUSTOMER
ALWAYS RIGHT?
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To readers who are brought up to believe
it is a writer’s function to instruct, to entertain,
and to be original, I say,
he who has been brainwashed as a child
cannot be open to instruction.
My aim is not to entertain but the exact opposite:
to make you aware of your own degradation.
As for being original:
in so far as I speak
of the origins of your degradation,
I am being original
even when I bore or irritate
the hell out of you by repeating myself.
*
Don’t think of me as a writer.
Think of me as a counter-propagandist.
As for readers who like to inform me
that I know nothing and I understand even less,
I say: I ascribe that to Armenians like you
who refuse to share their knowledge and understanding
with the rest of us.
Knowledge and understanding are not things to keep,
like money, but things to share, like love.
And if after reading this
you decide to continue reading me,
have the decency not to bitch
and make unreasonable demands on me.
But if you do, don’t be surprised if I ignore you.
#
Monday, January 02, 2012
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REFLECTIONS
OF A NON-BELIEVER
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Einstein: “I am a deeply religious nonbeliever.”
*
You can be a born-again believer
as well as non-believer.
You can be a born-again anything.
The only thing you cannot be
is a born-again cadaver.
*
All men of faith are convinced
of the 10,000 gods that men have created
9,999 are phonies.
*
Men of faith believe non-believers will go to hell
because they denied the existence of the Almighty.
Now then, if an ant or a worm were to deny my own existence
would I step on it?
Would such denial even register on my consciousness?
*
May I also add that I am not the forgiving type.
My greatest hope is that
anyone who has ever done me any dirt
will burn in hell for all eternity
#
Tuesday, January 03, 2012
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UNFORGETTABLE LINES
FROM SARTRE
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The two things that make a line unforgettable are
(one) once read it is never forgotten, and
(two) it’s like a key that unlocks a door
to reveal not another room but a new horizon.
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“Fascism is not defined by the number of its victims,
but by the way it kills them.”
*
“…the anonymous desirability of all flesh.”
*
[To write about genius is] “to retrace in detail
the history of a liberation.”
*
“I plunged into humility to evade humiliation.”
*
“To love is to hate the same enemy.”
*
“I turned rebel later only through having pushed submissiveness
to the extreme.”
*
“The ascetic is a man rich enough
to choose his poverty freely.”
*
“Psychoanalysis has no principles.”
*
“…for no man is ever anything but a swindle.”
*
“Human life begins on the other side of despair.”
*
“Mysticism suits displaced persons
and superfluous children.”
#
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
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NOTES / COMMENTS
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The secret aim of our political leaders
is to be better charlatans.
*
I once heard one of them say:
“I have said this before, many times,
and I am going to say it again!”
And I thought, has anyone ever accused him
of repeating himself?
*
“If you are with me you are a friend.
If you are against me you are an enemy.”
Provided of course your judgement is infallible.
*
The support of a writer
by a political party is as good as a kiss of death.
*
Blood may well be thicker than water
but common sense goes farther than chauvinist crapola
and common decency is superior to mumbo jumbo.
*
A charming man does not waste his charm
on someone he considers useless to him.
#