TO KNOW IS TO REMEMBER ****************************************** To write also means to repeat what has been said and forgotten; to shout that which is whispered; and to expose that which is covered up. As for solutions to our problems: I can only say and repeat: solutions, like the Kingdom of God, are within you. * Be honest with yourself and others even when to be honest means to be outnumbered a thousand to one. * Thou shalt not deceive yourself, especially when the deception is disguised as tradition, the laws of the land, or the word of a king, pope, or some other phony representative of god on earth: in short, propaganda. * If belief systems don’t tell us not to be dupes of propaganda it may be because that would be like digging their own graves. But I maintain being a dupe is one of the most dangerous transgressions. Wars and massacres are perpetrated by dupes whose sole justification has been, “I was following orders,” or I trusted the word of god as spoken by a rabbi, imam, or bishop. # BIG BROTHERS, AMONG OTHER THINGS ******************************** The Russians are our Big Brothers only in the sense that for 600 years Turks were our Big Brothers. So was Cain to Abel. * When you are young you pull up your pants and go wherever you want to go. But when you are old someone else pulls up your pants and takes you where you don’t want to go. I am now paraphrasing the Bible which may suggest it is not the Word of God but of men with a credibility problem. * Lies that flatter are infinitely more dangerous than mad dogs, venomous snakes, and mad elephants. # HOLIER-THAN-THOU ************************************** There is a type of holier-than-thou reader who likes to point out the fact that my criticism of Armenians is nothing but a projection of my own shortcomings. Such a reader is convinced he knows better because he is better. His unspoken aim is not to understand reality but to explain it in such a way as to prove his moral and intellectual superiority; and to prove it to others in order to convince himself. # MEIN KAMPF ********************************* All my efforts are now concentrated on being readable. As for saving the nation: I leave that to our bosses, bishops, benefactors and dime-a-dozen superpatriots with messianic ambitions. * ON SERMONIZERS AND SPEECHIFIERS ********************************************** One way to define them is to say they are men who know what must be said but consistently and unanimously avoid doing what must be done. * RIGHT AND WRONG ************************************ It is not enough to say we did nothing wrong. Did we do anything right? Even more to the point: Can we even tell right from wrong? * OUR SHISH-KEBAB PARTIES ************************************** Members of the Tea Party in America are the offspring of individuals who in the second half of the 19th century fought a bloody civil war – some say the bloodiest in history – in defense of slavery. They remind me of our bosses, bishops, and benefactors who, to save the nation, they divide it. * WORDS OF WISDOM ******************************** There is an old Armenian saying: “He is so smart he even knows where the devil sleeps.” The devil, my friends, sleeps where he resides and he resides in our hearts. * TELL ME ************************ Am I saying anything you don’t already know? #