Collection of Wisdom

postulate v

1. To assume as a truthful or accurate premise.
2. (Christianity, historical) To appoint or request one's appointment to an ecclesiastical office.

complicit adj

1. Involved in or compliant with some behavior, especially of a questionable nature.

~ Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke

Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (September 16, 1678 – December 12, 1751) was an English statesman and philosopher.

indubitably adv

1. In a manner that leaves no possibility of doubt; undoubtedly.

bide n

1. (dialectal) To bear; to endure; to tolerate.
2. (archaic) To dwell or reside in a location; to abide.
3. (archaic) To wait; to be in expectation.

~Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau (born David Henry Thoreau; July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862) was an American author, naturalist, transcendentalist, tax resister, development critic, sage writer and philosopher. He is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay, Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state.

Thoreau's books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry total over 20 volumes. Among his lasting contributions were his writings on natural history and philosophy, where he anticipated the methods and findings of ecology and environmental history, two sources of modern day environmentalism.

He was a lifelong abolitionist, delivering lectures that attacked the Fugitive Slave Law while praising the writings of Wendell Phillips and defending abolitionist John Brown. Thoreau’s philosophy of nonviolent resistance influenced the political thoughts and actions of such later figures as Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Thoreau is sometimes cited as an individualist anarchist as well as an inspiration to anarchists. Though Civil Disobedience calls for improving rather than abolishing government — "I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government" — the direction of this improvement aims at anarchism: “‘That government is best which governs not at all;’ and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have.”

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_David_Thoreau

realm n

1. A sphere of real or imaginary influence.
2. The domain of a certain abstraction.
3. (formal or law) A territory or state, as ruled by a specific power.

~ Plutarch

Plutarch (Latin: Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus Greek: Μέστριος Πλούταρχος; c. 46 AD - 120 AD), was a Greek (though of Roman citizenship) historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist. Plutarch was born to a prominent family in Chaeronea, Boeotia, a town about twenty miles east of Delphi.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutarch

~ Cyril Connolly

Cyril Vernon Connolly (1903-09-10 - 1974-11-26) was an English author, editor and critic.

apropos adj

1. Of an appropriate or pertinent nature.

~ Leo Tolstoy

Lev Nikolayevitch Tolstoy [Ле́в Никола́евич Толсто́й] (9 September 1828 – 20 November 1910) was a Russian writer, philosopher and social activist; his name is usually rendered into English as Leo Tolstoy, and sometimes Tolstoi.

"He was a revolutionary in his thinking and later in life he was an activist and reformer; he was best known as Russia's greatest moral authority, and his teachings on civil disobedience have inspired Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr. and countless others. He was, and still is, an author to be reckoned with." ~ Brief biography at Oprah's Book Club

Tolstoy's life has been devoted to replacing the method of violence for removing tyranny or securing reform by the method of non resistance to evil. He would meet hatred expressed in violence by love expressed in self suffering. He admits of no exception to whittle down this great and divine law of love. He applies it to all the problems that trouble mankind.  ~ Mohandas Gandhi (19 November 1909)

Some of his more famous works:

• War and Peace (1865-1869)
• Anna Karenina (1875–1877)
• What Men Live By (1881)
• Confession (1882)
• The Kingdom of God is Within You (1894)
• What is Art? (1896)
• A Letter to a Hindu (1908)

fisticuffs n

1. (informal) An impromptu fight with the fists, usually between only two people.
2. (sports, dated) Bare-knuckled boxing.

cavort v

1. To move about carelessly or boisterously.

debacle n

1. An event or enterprise that ends suddenly and disastrously.
2. (ecology) A breaking up of a natural dam by a river and the ensuing rush of water.

A kōan (公案; Japanese: kōan, Chinese: gōng-àn, Korean: gong'an, Vietnamese: công án) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement in the history and lore ofChán (Zen) Buddhism, generally containing aspects that are inaccessible to rational understanding, yet may be accessible to intuition. A famous kōan is: "Two hands clap and there is a sound; what is the sound of one hand?" (oral tradition, attributed to Hakuin Ekaku, 1686-1769, considered a reviver of the kōan tradition in Japan).

Kōans originate in the sayings and doings of sages and legendary figures, usually those authorized to teach in a lineage that regards Bodhidharma (c. 5th-6th century) as its ancestor. Kōans are said to reflect the enlightened or awakened state of such persons, and sometimes said to confound the habit of discursive thought or shock the mind into awareness. Zen teachers often recite and comment on kōans, and some Zen practitioners concentrate on kōans duringmeditation. Teachers may probe such students about their kōan practice using "checking questions" to validate an experience of insight (kensho) or awakening. Responses by students have included actions or gestures, "capping phrases" (jakugo), and verses inspired by the kōan.

As used by teachers, monks, and students in training, kōan can refer to a story selected from sutras and historical records, a perplexing element of the story, a concise but critical word or phrase (話頭 huà-tóu) extracted from the story, or to the story appended by poetry and commentary authored by later Zen teachers, sometimes layering commentary upon commentary.

English-speaking non-Zen practitioners sometimes use kōan to refer to an unanswerable question or a meaningless statement. However, in Zen practice, a kōan is not meaningless, and teachers often do expect students to present an appropriate response when asked about a kōan. Even so, a kōan is not a riddle or a puzzle. Appropriate responses to a kōan may vary according to circumstances; different teachers may demand different responses to a given kōan, and a fixed answer cannot be correct in every circumstance. One of the most common recorded comments by a teacher on a disciple's answer is: "Even though that is true, if you do not know it yourself it does you no good." The master is looking not for an answer in a specific form, but for evidence that the disciple has actually grasped the state of mind expressed by the kōan itself.

Thus, though there may be so-called "traditional answers" (kenjo) to many kōans, these are only preserved as exemplary answers given in the past by various masters during their own training. In reality, any answer could be correct, provided that it conveys proof of personal realization. Needless to say, kōan training can only be done with a qualified teacher who has the "eye" to see a disciple's depth of attainment. In the Rinzai Zen school, which uses kōans extensively, the teacher certification process includes an appraisal of proficiency in using that school's extensive kōan curriculum.

The word kōan corresponds to the Chinese characters 公案 which can be rendered in various ways: gōng'àn (Chinese pinyin); kung-an (Chinese Wade-Giles);gong'an (Korean); công-án (Vietnamese); kōan (Japanese Hepburn); often transliterated kōan). Of these, "kōan" is the most common in English. Just as Japanese Zen, Chinese Ch'an, Korean Son, and Vietnamese Thien, and Western Zen all share many features in common, likewise kōans play similar roles in each, although significant cultural differences exist.

~ Robert Maynard Pirsig (born 6 September 1928) is an American philosopher and novelist.

I would like to take that statement further and say that we should take care with that task as we also have a certain relationship to the wolf that we may have forgotten.

Number of suicides per 100,000 could pass that of civilian population

WASHINGTON - Soldier suicides this year could surpass the record rate of last year, Army officials said Thursday, urging military leaders at all levels to redouble prevention efforts for a force strained by two wars.

So far this year, there are 62 confirmed suicides among active duty soldiers and Guard and Reserve troops called to active duty, officials said. Another 31 deaths appear to be suicides but are still being investigated.

If all are confirmed, that means that the number for 2008 could eclipse the 115 of last year — and the rate per 100,000 could surpass that of the civilian population, Col. Eddie Stephens, deputy director of human resources policy, said at a Pentagon press conference.

sempiternal adj

1. Seemingly everlasting or eternal.

wane v

1. To progressively loses its splendor, ardor, power, etc.
2. (of light) To dim or diminish in strength.
3. (of the Moon) To decrease in visible surface during its phases

~ Helen Keller

Helen Adams Keller (June 27, 1880 – June 1, 1968) was an American author, activist and lecturer. She was the first deafblind person to graduate from college.

The story of how Keller's teacher, Annie Sullivan, broke through the isolation imposed by a near complete lack of language, allowing the girl to blossom as she learned to communicate, has become known worldwide through the dramatic depictions of the play The Miracle Worker.

What is less well known is how Keller's life developed after she completed her education. A prolific author, she was well traveled, and was outspoken in her opposition to war. She campaigned for women's suffrage, workers' rights and socialism, as well as many other progressive causes.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Keller

It is surprising how easy we have it and what we take for granted and proves that we are the reason for our limitations.

~ Sarah Orne Jewett (September 3, 1849 – June 24, 1909)

forensic adj

1. Relating to the use of science and technology in a court of law.
2. (dated) Relating to, or appropriate for courts of law.
3. (archaic) Relating to, or used in debate or argument.

This figure is a simplified, schematic representation of the flows of energy between space, the atmosphere, and the Earth's surface, and shows how these flows combine to trap heat near the surface and create the greenhouse effect. Energy exchanges are expressed in watts per square meter (W/m2)