“When I was small, my mother told me that moths were butterflies that had been banished to the night, where they lived tortured lives dreaming of the day. In this way she explained why they sacrificed themselves to flame; it was both an end to their suffering and a reunion with the light they longed for.
The parable, of course, was meant to warn me against wanting what I should not have.”
Source: Burning Marguerite
“Yamamoto sensed a feeling of culmination about the huge success of the first strike, and the same incisive intuition that guided his brilliant moves at the gaming tables told him what the next move on the bridge of Akagi would be. In (Vice Admiral) Nagumo he knew his man. Nagumo had never been committed to the Pearl Harbor mission. He had not been Yamamoto’s choice to command the Striking Force; his assignment was the decision of the Navy Ministry in Tokyo, based on seniority. While the exultation of the officers and sailors on his staff swirled around him, Yamamoto sat quietly. Finally, he fixed a steely gaze on his chief of staff, and in a low, intense voice: “Admiral Nagumo is going to withdraw.”
Source: Diplomats & Admirals: From Failed Negotiations and Tragic Misjudgments to Powerful Leaders and Heroic Deeds, the Untold Story of the Pacific War from Pearl Harbor to Midway
“Could not God just forgive us without having to hurt something or someone?”
“Unless a bunch of lionhearts are sleepless for society, the society can never sleep in peace.”
Source: Good Scientist: When Science and Service Combine
“The integrity of the society is predicated on the sacrifice of a handful of lionhearts and on the everyday accountability of the rest of the humans.”
Source: Good Scientist: When Science and Service Combine
“The sun doesn't run out of light by giving it to the world for free, for the very purpose of the sun's existence is to give light. A true human is no less than a living sun in the society, whose very purpose in life is to give light.”
Source: Servitude is Sanctitude
“If you want to transition from your lower self to your higher self, a sacrifice is demanded. Everything has a cost. The greatest things have the greatest cost. Most people will never pay the price, hence they never become great.”
Source: Holenmerism and Nullibism: The Two Faces of the Holographic Universe
“It is a promise that I ask of you - a promise that no matter the time and age you'll never lose sight of your humanity - you'll never be too immersed in your own comfort to help out those in misery around you. If you can make this promise, not to me mark you but to yourself, then I'll know that I've achieved absolution.”
Source: Sleepless for Society
“The whole question is; "How precious is he to us now?" If we do not think much of him, then of course to give him anything at all, however small will seem to us a wicked waste. But when he is really precious to our souls nothing will be too good, nothing too costly for him; everything we have, our dearest, our most priceless treasure, we shall pour out upon him, and we shall not count it a shame to have done so.”
Source: The Normal Christian Life
“A man can have anything, if he is willing to sacrifice. With your birth comes a solemn vow: You will have nothing. Your privilege is the dirt. In the darkness, only ambition will guide you. The oath you swear, the promises you make, they are yours alone. Your freedom will be the wars you wage. Your birthright the losses you suffer. Your entitlement the pain you endure. And when darkness finds you, you will face it alone.”