Nietszche's words have been echoing in my ears for the past week or so.

[Jackpine Radical]

"Wer mit Ungeheuern kämpft, mag zusehn, dass er nicht dabei zum Ungeheuer wird. Und wenn du lange in einen Abgrund blickst, blickt der Abgrund auch in dich hinein."--Nietszche

One who battles monsters must take care that he does not himself thereby become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes back into you.

[H2O Man]

1. Recommended.

While few feel chipper after reading a chapter by this author, his insights are of very real value.

Thank you for this.

[malaise]

2. Nice

Rec

[LuvNewcastle]

3. That quote is tailor-made for recent events.

[Jackpine Radical]

5. That's what I thought.

[blkmusclmachine]

4. So much for Democrats never-ending love affair with DC "bi-partisanship"!!

[ErikJ]

6. One of my favorite songs.

By one of my favorite bands.

[2banon]

38. great graphics..

I do want the "No God" sticker thingy,, love to have a couple of those for my instrument cases and car fender... yeah. that's one I want.. thanks for sharin'...

[BrotherIvan]

7. My sig line

Because it is so damn true.

[The Wizard]

8. "Hope is the worst of all evils. It prolongs the torments of man."

Thus spaketh Fred N.

[Scuba]

9. K&R

[Sognefjord]

11. "The thought of suicide has helped me get many a good night's sleep."

Now there's a dark but true saying!

[Scuba]

15. Hmmmmm.

[lovemydog]

16. It's funny, when I read that stuff in college it all seemed

pretty depressing. Now that I've lived longer, it feels like stand-up comedy.

[albino65]

31. My thoughts exactly n/t

[sabrina 1]

10. We are witnessing that during this dark period in our history.

[lovemydog]

17. On the other hand

(and there's always another hand) there's less war going on in the world now that at any time in the 20th century. And the internet is cool.

[WillyT]

12. Sysiphus Come To Mind As Well... All That Effort Getting That Rock... Up That Hill...

& Rec !!!

[lovemydog]

18. Camus said Sisyphus was happy. I don't know.

But that's our lives. I guess he's right that we define ourselves by our actions.

[merrily]

26. Doomed and happy?

I guess that's possible. Absence of choice does have its benefits, I guess, or the life of a nun or monk would be unbearable.

[Uncle Joe]

13. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Jackpine Radical.

[daleanime]

14. One of my favorite quotes.......

[RobertEarl]

19. Which to feed?

A small boy is listening to his grandfather who says, "A fight is going on inside me. It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil. He is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is good. He is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside you and inside every other person, too."

The boy asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"

His grandfather replied, "The one that is fed."

[lovemydog]

35. Love that - thanks

[progressoid]

20. Here's a graphic for you...

[Nay]

41. LOLOL!!! Perfect!

[malthaussen]

21. Only this past week or so?

Or do you mean "echoing more than usual" recently?

This whole century so far has been a realtime demonstration of the aptness of that warning.

-- Mal

[Jackpine Radical]

22. Most of my life, really.

But especially loudly lately.

[malthaussen]

24. When Israel was turning back immigrant ships a while back...

... I thought the irony was especially piercing. But the Patriot Act really nailed it for me even earlier. Up to that point, I nurtured an outside hope that cooler heads would prevail. It wasn't so much the Act itself, either, but rather the unanimity with which it was supported. I keep having that reaction more and more these days, when legislatures vote with virtually no dissenters to take another step towards destroying the foundations on which this country was believed to have been built.

-- Mal

[BlancheSplanchnik]

23. .

[DefenseLawyer]

25. "He who makes a beast of himself"

"gets rid of the pain of being a man" - Dr. Johnson

[blackspade]

27. Indeed.

K&R.

[raouldukelives]

28. We donned the corporate cloth to do battle with corporate monsters.

It hasn't worked out too well.

[ymetca]

29. "Stoop not down...

...unto the Darkly-Splendid World; wherein continually lieth a faithless Depth, and Hades wrapped in clouds, delighting in unintelligible images, precipitous, winding, a black ever-rolling Abyss; ever espousing a Body unluminous, formless and void."

--The Chaldaean Oracles of Zoroaster

[hue]

30. If only those who need this insight would be able to "see" it, but they won't.

Thanks Jackpine!!

[nolabear]

36. We all need this insight.

Sometimes particularly we who assume our own goodness. All slopes are slippery if conditions are right.

[snagglepuss]

32. Bookmarked.

Stellar quote. thanx for posting

[Demeter]

33. The Trick Is: Don't Engage the Monster Directly

Instead, modify the environment to destroy its habitat. It's subtle, but more effective.

[Jackpine Radical]

37. Yes, absolutely.

That's the only way to effectively change the situation. And that's why Occupy was, and remains, such a threat to the oligarchic system.

[IrishAyes]

34. Thank you for the timely reminder.

[ashling]

39. Reading that quote, I immediately thought of

a book I read in political theory


De Anslaag (The Assault) by Dutch author Harry Mulisch about WWII. I recommend it.+

[NoRWNJ]

40. Nietszche also said:

"Das was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich stärker"

"That which does not kill me, strengthens me."