Wednesday, July 17, 2013 ******************************* Q/A *************************** Q: What do Christians, Muslims, Nazis and Stalinists have in common? A: Their most cherished ideas – ideas for which they have killed and died – are propaganda. What they think to be more real than reality itself is pure fiction. Their greatest truths are big lies. This is not an opinion on my part. This is what they themselves believe about one another. * The greatest offenses against God and men are inflicted with total lack of awareness. * Warning: Be aware of what you believe in: it may kill you. # DIARY ************************ Two new books of conversations – my favorite genre – with Orson Welles and Ava Gardner. The only book by Goethe that I enjoyed reading is his CONVERSATIONS WITH ECKERMANN. * In life when the predictable happens it does so in an unpredictable manner. * Turcocentrism is our present opium. * Silenced by rabbis, Jesus brought forth the papacy and the Dark Ages. All actions have unintended consequences. * I have never killed anyone. That doesn’t mean I don’t harbor a cold-blooded killer within me. * Am I right or wrong? Or rather: What if I am right? * If I lied it’s because I was a dupe of lies. * If I can write a single readable line a day, I am satisfied. * We don’t have critics. What we have are hirelings writing in defense of their source of income. # OBSERVATIONS ***************************** Like Pollyanna I like to see the best in the worst. Revolutions? When the men at the top start killing one another it can’t be all bad. * When a million people believe in the same lie they build a cathedral to prove its truth. * The best argument against nationalism is not even an argument but a simple statement of fact: “I only know the skin of the earth, And that it has no name” (Pablo Neruda). * There is nothing new under the sun. Neither is there anything new in what I have been saying. And yet, some of my readers like to pretend otherwise. * Our leaders have been wrong so consistently and for such a long time that it must be ascribed to some kind of special gift rather than a failing or a vice. # FROM MY NOTEBOOKS ********************************* God and religion are here to stay? So are understanding, tolerance, and men who place doubt above the certainty of dogmas. * Role models? I didn’t have any. All my role models were negative – I didn’t want to be like them. * “Some day I will write a book on the subject and prove you wrong.” An Armenian will say anything to win an argument. * A faithful member of the Party: ” What you say is wrong. We believe in free speech. None of my articles has ever been rejected or altered.” * A self-assessed smart Armenian is an idiot. * About the 1%: creating or killing jobs is not their central concern. Money is. * When I was a fascist I didn’t know I was one. * Persian saying: “It is better to be in chains with friends than in a garden with strangers.” #