“It's easy to tell the evolutionary level of a group of beings, or an individual being, simply by examining their behavior, their art, their psychology, their thought forms, their lingual structures, their history, their present moment, their future ideas, and the quality of their emotions.” ArtIdeasMomentsFormHumanityIndividualEasyLevelsEmotionQualityPsychologyGroupsBuddhismBehaviorStructurePresent MomentExamining Author:Frederick Lenz
“In the military I could exercise the power of being automatically respected because of the medals on my chest, not because I had done anything right at the moment to earn that respect. This is pretty nice. It's also a psychological trap that can stop one's growth and allow one to get away with just plain bad behavior.” DoneMomentsGrowthNiceMilitaryExerciseBehaviorPsychologicalGet AwayChestsTrapsMedalBad Behavior Book:What It Is Like To Go To War Source: What It Is Like To Go To War
“The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion. However valuable-even necessary-that may have been in enforcing good behavior on primitive peoples, their association is now counterproductive. Yet at the very moment when they should be decoupled, sanctimonious nitwits are calling for a return to morals based on superstition.” ShouldMayHas BeensMomentsMoralMankindReturnMoralityCallingBehaviorTragedyValuableAssociationSuperstitionsPrimitiveCounterproductiveGood BehaviorSanctimoniousHijacking Author:Arthur C. Clarke
“The life-history of the individual is first and foremost an accommodation to the patterns and standards traditionally handed down in his community. From the moment of his birth the customs into which he is born shape his experience and behavior. By the time he can talk, he is the little creature of his culture, and by the time he is grown and able to take part in its activities, its habits are his habits, its beliefs his beliefs, its impossibilities his impossibilities.” FirstsLittlesMomentsAbleCultureIndividualBeliefBornCommunityBirthHabitActivityShapesCreaturesBehaviorStandardsPatternsCustomsImpossibilityAccommodations Author:Ruth Benedict
“Every place is a place to practice. Every time is a time to practice. Zen is concerned with the thought we have this moment rather than with rituals or rules of behavior” MomentsTimePracticeBehaviorConcernedRitual Book:Zen Baggage: A Pilgrimage to China Source: Zen Baggage: A Pilgrimage to China