Today’s One-Liner (#4)
bi you shi yan. –Mengzi, “Always have a task” Wang understood Mengzi’s teaching of bi you shi yan as “always have a task.” One must maintain a constant vigil over one’s thoughts and ideas and…
Author: Mark J. Chmiel
Reading Jewish
In 1994, I purchased Harold Bloom’s The Western Canon, and would peruse it from time to time, and pick a book off of Bloom’s four lists. He got me back to Shakespeare and sparked…
Today’s One-Liner (#3)
May I be a light for those in need of light. –Shantideva, The Bodhicaryavatara: A Guide to the Buddhist Path of Awakening, translated by Kate Crosby & Andrew Skilton
Today’s One-Liner (#2)
Do not waste time on nonessentials. –Miyamoto Musashi, Nine Articles, in John Stevens, Budo Secrets: Teachings of the Martial Arts Masters
Today’s One-Liner (#1)
Arise with a brave heart, Shimmelstoy, and destroy the enemy. —Bhagavad Gita, 2.3
Thus Spoke a Chinese Dissident
There is no revolution like the Communist revolution. You simply burn all the books, kill all of the thinking people and use the poor proletariat to create a very simple benchmark to gauge social change….
Share the Wealth with Christina Gebel: “Mantras of a Newly-Minted Moderate”
This is a tough time. As the election approaches, our collective psyche is berated with polarized messages amid widespread lack of faith in the political system of the United States. Surviving the next five months…
The Chutzpah!
[Thomas] Sowell’s habit of challenging liberal orthodoxies that are held dear by most of his fellow intellectuals and the mainstream media has led to a good deal of criticism over the decades. This book explores…
Picking and Choosing
“Nothing Jewish is alien to me.” [Gerschom] Scholem liked to say that. We argued about it many times. I objected that a great deal that is Jewish is alien to me (and to him, too)….
Andrew & Joan
Andrew Ivers continues to guide me when it comes to the delights of the Western Canon. Last week I asked him where I should start with Joan Didion and without hesitation he suggested Slouching towards…