“Bush is almost always clear when he's speaking cruelly. For example, when the subject is the punitive infliction of great pain, there is no problem with his syntax, grammar, or vocabulary, even if he happens to be lying. ... On the other hand, our president is extraordinarily tongue-tied when he's trying, off the cuff, to sound a note of idealism, magnanimity or -- especially -- compassion.” IfsTryingProblemHandsHappensPainLyingSoundPresidentCompassionClearSubjectsExampleNotesTongueTiedIdealismVocabularyNo ProblemGrammarMagnanimitySyntaxCuffsTongue TiedInfliction Author:Mark Crispin Miller
“Remember, government is not an enlightened organization designed to promote public welfare. It is barbaric, uncivilized force…military and police power put to the service of the insiders who control it. Yes, there are constraints on the way the insiders use their power. There are ‘checks and balances,’ built into the constitution, for example. And there are cultural norms and traditional prohibitions. But eventually, the norms and traditions wear off, like painkillers. And then, the pain of raw government begins again.” WayUseGovernmentPainRememberExampleBalanceBuiltTraditionOrganizationConstitutionPoliceChecksTraditionalWelfareEnlightenedNormConstraintsProhibitionBegin AgainInsidersBarbaricUncivilizedPainkillersPolice PowerPublic Welfare Author:Bill Bonner
“Medical thinking usually sees stress as highly disturbing but isolated events such as, for example, sudden unemployment, a marriage breakup, or the death of a loved one. These major events are potent sources of stress for many, but there are chronic daily stresses in people's lives that are more insidious and more harmful in their long-term biological consequences. Internally generated stresses take their toll without in any way seeming out of the ordinary.” PeopleThinkingWayLongPainTermEventsExampleSourceMajorsOrdinaryConsequenceStressMedicalTherapyLong TermBreakupInjuryLoved OnesIsolatedDeath Of A Loved OneUnemploymentDisturbingSeemingTollsInsidious Author:Gabor Mate
“Consider, for example, lust versus love. When we lust after someone or something, we think in terms of what they (or it) can do for us. When we love, however, our thoughts are immersed in what we can give to someone else. Giving makes us feel good, so we do it happily. But when we lust, we only want to take. When someone we love is in pain, we feel pain. When someone whom we lust is in pain, we only think in terms of what that loss or inconvenience means to us.” ThinkingWantGivingFeelsMeanPainTermCan DoLossLove IsExampleLustFeel GoodOur ThoughtsVersusInconvenience Author:David J. Lieberman
“The time has also come to recognize the painful truth that traditional Judeo-Christian moral values of pain and pleasure in human relationships have contributed substantially to child abuse and to the prevalence of physical violence in Western civilization.... The religious system upon which our culture is based holds that pain, suffering and deprivation are moral and necessary to save one's soul and make one a 'good person.' The crucifixion and scourging of Christ are examples.” HumansChildrenPersonsSoulChristianPainSufferingValuesCultureChristReligiousPleasureMoralViolenceExampleCivilizationAbuseWesternPainfulScaryTraditionalChild AbuseGood PersonHuman RelationsHuman RelationshipsDeprivationWestern CivilizationCrucifixionPain And PleasureMoral ValuesPhysical ViolencePain SufferingPainful Truth Author:James W. Prescott
“We are intensely loyal to our parents. In spite of the pain we experienced at our parent's hands, we cling tenaciously to their views of life; and their examples of what it is to be a man or a woman follow us throughout life. Acknowledging the power of our loyalty to them, and especially our loyalty to our same-sex parent, is only the beginning of our journey to improve upon their model; but it is at least a first step.” MenFirstsHandsPainSexParentViewsStepsJourneyExampleModelsLoyaltySpiteLoyalFirst StepsBe A Man Author:Augustus Napier
“How much education may reconcile young people to pain and sufference, the examples of Sparta do sufficiently shew; and they who have once brought themselves not to think bodily pain the greatest of evils, or that which they ought to stand most in fear of, have made no small advance toward virtue.” PeopleThinkingMayMadePainYoungEvilVirtueExampleOughtReconcileSpartaBodily Pain Book:The works of John Locke ... Source: The works of John Locke ...