- I do not agree that if you believe you can accomplish something, you can. However, I do agree that if you believe you cannot accomplish something, you cannot.
- I begin with the assumption that others are more than their outward appearance because I am more than mine.
- I have only a single rebuke for the Analects and then I am silent, from deep respect and admiration. The third lesson of The Analects 16:13 has greatly damaged a people.
- Pornography leads to a pornographic mind. A society of pornographic minds is identical to a rape culture. Therefore, the one who wants to end a rape culture wants to end pornography.
- It is more helpful to speak the truth than to belittle a lie. It is also more difficult.
- Weeping and dancing each have profundity. The one who can be trusted for full friendship holds these differing profundities close.
- The point is not to know when the end of the world will be. The point is to live in the fact that we do not know. That is, always be ready.
- Is it better to explain a truth than to throw a true insult.
- I grow weary of philosophies that have unrest in their core.
- If we assume that we are correct, we will never discover that we are incorrect.
- Intellectual humility does not mean abandoning your intellect. It means not abandoning the intellect of others.
- Without thought, peer pressure is insurmountable.
- Sometimes, peer pressure is a blessing from God. Other times, it is a curse from Adam.
- Having awareness of others amplifies an experience of peer pressure.
- If something is an idol, it is impossible to feel gratitude for it.
- Gratitude is understanding that something could very well not be present, and appreciating that it is present.
- Lack of knowledge amplifies an experience of peer pressure.
- 4chan is the result of unredeemed and unbounded self-awareness.
- Politics is not my field. I would suggest Locke.
- It is deeply foolish to ignore the insights of our elders. It is less foolish, but still foolish to assume that our elders were perfect.
- I am not yet mature enough to show grace to someone who suggests that a dead thinker is an irrelevant thinker.
- A philosophy that ignores death doesn’t say much of life.
- Service to the destitute is a true pleasure.
- Education helps to solve many social ills. However, it is certainly not the full solution.
- If we only sympathize with the sins of others because we have been through the same thing, then what happens when someone confides in us a struggle that we have never experienced?
- The pain of another does not become invalid if we have not experienced it.
- A leader respects the importance and fragility of trust.
- A lack of rest can produce all sorts of irritations. Thus, forgive the irritable and avoid a lack of rest.
- Growing up well requires strength. I’m not sure, but I think that we are all growing up.
- There is no end to the pettiness of Man.
- We would do well to read the classics.
Thoughts of a Novice 