“The main obstacle to progress is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge. You think you know. But no, you don’t. Once you understand that you don’t know, then your mind is a little more open to say, ‘Oh, OK, there are other possibilities, maybe it’s not true after all.’ Even though you wanted it to be true.” Humility in the form of having an awareness of our ignorance arouses our curiosity which leads us to fascinating insights beyond our preconceived notions....
Some lives are complicated, some simple. Complicated lives seem more interesting with lots of wild scenes, dramas and complications. However, complicated lives are at times overwhelming. Simple lives are happy lives, filled with gratitude for the good fortune of living simple lives. Simple lives avoid multitasking, compartmentalize experiences, accept and do the best with what comes their way, don't worry about matters they cannot control and are optimistic that all will ultimately work out well. When at times our lives become complicated and overwhelming, best to simplify them and realize the happiness of a simple life....
"No one gets out of here alive." While our ineffable soul is eternal, we are forever transitioning through life and inevitably transition from our temporary bodies. Best to make the most of the physical experience of being alive and enjoy its sensuous pleasures. Otherwise, we may be fraught with regrets at the end of days, regrets for not having lived. Jim Morrison died at 27; a relatively short life; over the top full, not half empty....
We are drops of water raining from the sky. Why wonder why as it's clear when we die in the ground, river or sea our purpose is just to be....
It's hard to see forward when looking back at the past. Those who understand the present in the context of the past are poor at seeing the future. Those who know the present are best at seeing the future. For example, let's say a stock is trading now at a price of $45/share. If we know everything about the history of the stock and how it traded relative to other stocks, relative to its earnings and all other metrics; we will not be as good at predicting the price at which it will trade next week as will the person who knows only that it is trading now at $45....
“Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone." A corollary: don't do anything today you can put off and do tomorrow; tomorrow may never come, so why have regrets of having wasted your time in life doing something that didn't need to be done; this is wisdom, not laziness. Taken together, Picasso's proposition and the corollary guide us to live without regrets....
Those who live in a city and view others who live in the suburbs as provincial are themselves provincial, viewing the world through simple categories....
Between the drum beats of the pulse between the motion of breathing there is an empty space where all is still. When young, I anxiously waited in the empty space for the next beat or breath to engage my attention. Now, I rest in the empty space where nothingness reigns. From here, I can appreciate the wonder of creation....
"You have to die a few times before you can really live." Every evening we die, every morning we are born again; some resemblance to the person we were yesterday. Other than the similar to yesterday's circumstances in which we find ourselves when we are reborn in the morning, everything is completely new today, unique. This newness stirs us and we can awaken to really live the only life we ever have which is today. When we identify with the person we were in past lives (passed days of our lives as it's conventionally known) and believe that person never died (that we are that same person today), we experience today in the context of our past; a life based on stories our mind has created. Unless we recognize we died heretofore, we cannot really live....
When we purchase an artwork, we are in fact purchasing two things, the thing and its price. The discerning buyer knows that. The sophisticated buyer does not. The discerning buyer, by definition, has good judgement; can see the quality of something and it's relative price. The sophisticated buyer knows much about fashion and culture. However, they are often a sucker for sophism, a specious argument used for deception. They look at an artwork with their ears, not their eyes....