Here are some more of my aphorisms. Some of them are "thesis embryos" that I want to develop later.
Democracy is a civic matrix for dialogue
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Intellectual freedom requires the permission to be certain and uncertain simultaneously
If believing an idea will make you a better person, then for you it is true.
If you lend a friend money, treat it as though you were giving him a gift. If he pays you back, be pleasantly surprised.
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The one who is alone in his beliefs is not always wrong.
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An idea must be allowed to be before it can be constructively deconstructed.
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Any philosopher who claims to have the key to how ultimate knowledge is either known or not known is a high priest and prophet of his own religion.
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It is possible to use Scripture to spin godless, empty god-talk
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It is often better to be alone imagining the company of good people than to be in the actual company of bad people
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Being precise is a large part of being sensitive
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“Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words only when necessary” – St. Francis
“Speak the Scripture at all times, quote it verbatim only when necessary” – Greg Wertime
****If you’re presenting an idea at a meeting, you must do at least one of these three things to avoid criticism from me: 1) express gratitude for what is already being done 2) present an idea that has been thought through 3) be willing to do it yourself
Loving others and doing what is right: these are things that are both simple in essence yet complex in execution.
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There is a pleasurable side to seriousness and a serious side to pleasure
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The common idea of efficiency is a method that results in a task being completed more quickly. My idea of efficiency is a method that allows me to perform a task in a way that is peaceful and friendly to my inner life.
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There are leaders and there are blusterers. The problem is that those who are sheep can’t tell the difference.
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Overly optimistic people are as much an enemy of true joy as overly pessimistic people
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People who believe that there is no purpose, ultimately, to life, will nevertheless construct a sense of purpose out of the purposelessness and hold to that sense of purpose fiercely.
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People whose strength of will is not matched by a strength of competence are a burden to work with
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Social boundaries contain an element of folly and an element of wisdom
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It is more intellectually difficult to defend the wisdom of a social boundary than it is to intellectually attack the folly of a social boundary.
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He who says, “What can you do?” will probably do nothing and encourage others to do the same.
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He who says, “Who’s to say?” as a rhetorical question is attempting to pass off his ignorance and lack of curiosity as enlightenment
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Though I may use the ideas of quantum physics and relativity to philosophically deconstruct the “is-ness” of matter, I must still attend to the bruise on my shin when I
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Much knowledge is gathered like wheat for wheat silos. It is the skill of a great teacher to make a biscuit out of it to be digested and enjoyed.
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It is a teacher’s duty to try to make the material being taught as interesting and as relevant as possible. It is the students’ duty to persevere during the times when making the material stimulating is not possible.
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