Arquivo de philosophy | Page 129 of 143

To Be Poor or to Be a Slave?

This is a perverse question that is mandatory for all those who, born in a modest cradle, find their interests inclined to something unpopular. I ask: is it possible for an intelligence to be interested in something popular? Perhaps, though unusual. For the question remains vibrant, imposing: to be poor or to be a slave? I can only interpret it as a confrontation between freedom and desire: to answer it is to decide between independence or submission. However, good news: opening the doors to poverty does not necessarily mean that it will stay.

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Desire: the Cancer of the Human Psyche

It is possible to find rational justifications for denying the solutions proposed by the Stoics, the Buddhists, Schopenhauer and many others. But there is a universal truth, present also in Christian philosophy, concerning desire: it is the plague, the cancer of the human psyche, the endless source of frustrations. And if, after careful psychological analysis, we decide to pluck it out at its root, plucking each of our hopes with a hoe, we get rid of an immense, malignant and harmful burden. The problem is that the human being lives on dreams, supports reality in the hope of a better future. To exterminate it, therefore, is to make life lose its brightness, is to give line to indifference, is to deny nature itself, is self-mutilation. Well, that seems to be the way to peace.

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Knowledge and Compound Interest

Knowledge compares to compound interest. Of these Einstein said, “the 8th wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it, he who doesn’t, pays it“. In both cases, the ascent is linked to time and occurs exponentially, i. e., the greater the distance traveled, the greater the acceleration. Scabrous obstacles, with time, become easily overcome, and the momentary possibilities will never represent the future. There is, of course, the caveat: whether in knowledge or in compound interest, progress is conditioned to reinversion.

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Achieving Bliss

Losing our illusions, accepting death, freeing ourselves from financial shackles, laughing at our ridicule, measuring our mediocrity, resisting desire, accepting frustration, annihilating pride, dedicating time to that which fills us with meaning: this is how we achieve bliss, or rather: how we can lick it, until our tongue is dry…

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