Wisdom has learned everything from chance.
When I reached the top of the ladder I was no taller than before.
The best advice is what the skylark gives by singing.
Even an inchworm gets where it's going.
We write while sleepwalking and revise when awake.
That the sun has burnt you is no argument against it.
Let everything exist. No need to pick and choose.
The pursuit of unhappiness always succeeds.
The rain that falls wherever it pleases. I want to be that rain.
It's not worth staying up all night just to paint masterpieces.
Chaos is any order opposed to freedom.
When something is done for nothing it's done with the highest purpose in mind.
One is never wounded by the love one gives, only by the love one expects.
Aphorisms. Meditations on life. A poet at heart A lover of life An iconoclast with nihilistic tendencies My politics is friendship My philosophy is happiness
"We write while sleepwalking and revise when awake" - very true. And the last one is perfect for this month.
ReplyDeleteThe last one makes me sad.
ReplyDeleteThere is a thread here and all of your aphorisms that weaves such a wonderful line of letting things be.
ReplyDeleteWow, a collection of uber good ones. When you mention the skylark, NP you sound just like Rumi. And I love that comment about the pursuit of unhappiness...how true it is!
ReplyDeleteIt took me a long time to finally realize the pursuit of unhappiness always wins and stopped doing that.
ReplyDeleteThe first one is very insightful. It makes you wonder.
ReplyDelete"When something is done for nothing it's done with the highest purpose in mind." this one is my favourite.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to have a selection of your best, np. Thank you for that.
Hi, Marty — So nice to read your aphorisms again, it always feels comfortable here.
ReplyDeleteI love this one:
ReplyDelete"When something is done for nothing it's done with the highest purpose in mind"
Just giving/doing and not expecting anything in return...
How true.
Thoughtful and perceptive.
ReplyDeleteA nice touch of irony.
ReplyDeleteHey Marty - long story short I followed you with another blog and in wordpress but Got hacked, and now back! So nice to read your A's again! You are so creative, my friend.
ReplyDeleteMy fav: "that the sun has burnt you..."....note to myself: remember to use it next time, please! : ) : )
ReplyDelete...just when i think i have a favourite, i get to the next one.
ReplyDelete"Let everything exist no need to pick and choose"
ReplyDeleteCould you have a better philosophy of life than that?
I don't know if Michelangelo or Mozart would agree with you on "not worth being up all night to paint a masterpiece" It was a choice and a passion that they're not even aware that they have forfeited sleep!
ReplyDeleteI may be no taller at the top of the ladder, but it sure helps my short @$$ reach the shelves in the cupboard! *L* ;)
ReplyDeleteAnother wonderful collection! I always look forward to them. :-)
ReplyDeleteMy favourites...
When I reached the top of the ladder I was no taller than before.
The best advice is what the skylark gives by singing.
The first and the last are wholemeal bread either side of something even more nourishing. Love 'em!
ReplyDeleteThe second one will help keep one's humility in check.
ReplyDeletewow..this is so incredible.I love all of this..
ReplyDeleteThoughts that keep us going, limes that surely heals us. Keep it up. You are the man!
ReplyDeleteHmmmm...what canna say...if there was one thing I could take ta heaven with me...it would be ur aphorisms...luv ya
ReplyDelete"The pursuit of unhappiness always succeeds." What thought-provoking statement, NP. All of these are excellent, as always.
ReplyDeleteJesus, I would have to write a comment to every line because every single one of them resonates with me. I love them all. One that stands out in my mind is the ladder for stepping on others never made one taller.
ReplyDeleteFantastic quotes
All of these are excellent!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is the last one, because we are always disappointed when our expectations run too high!
I just really like a lot the way these go on and on & from there tinkle something deep-deep down in side, as something is there when you say "The pursuit of "UN"-happiness [underlined with capitals] always succeeds." I really could'v said that myself but someone obviously got there before me. Originally, I didn't come to this blog to learn anything new - but if I did I would'v come here first.
ReplyDeleteYou have about convinced me to retire my blog and refer my readers to you. You epitomize the notion that "An aphorism is a single sentence that completely exhausts its subject." Bravo!
ReplyDeleteFantastic. Lots of variety to suit different moods. I especially like the "rain falls wherever it pleases" aphorism.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Phil
np, this batch of words took longer time for me to swallow and at the end, i love them just as i love those before. thanks for sharing them. brilliant!
ReplyDeleteLove them all. Especially, "When something is done for nothing it's done with the highest purpose in mind." Beautiful.
ReplyDelete"The rain that falls wherever it pleases. I want to be that rain."
ReplyDeleteI feel like you wrote that for me.
The face of the earth is only as expansive as your imagination can fill it. I’m not sure where I am, this place is empty of art and light.
The rain that falls wherever it pleases. I want to be that rain............. i like this one
ReplyDeleteGood stuff! Keep 'em comming!
ReplyDelete"... and the pursuit of happiness never fails", NP! That's what I'm preoccupied over these days. I'll be off again to see my darlings on Valentine's Day. 'Til then! Happy Valentine's Smarty!
ReplyDeleteHey Marty, like usual I love that they are altogether - they play off each other - and I have a hard time picking out my favorite. I guess that today it must be the one about the ladder!! I can relate.
ReplyDeleteI think that first line is very profound!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the first commenter. This line is qutie solid "We write while sleepwalking and revise when awake." Your words make me pause and ponder which is a wonderful thing. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeletePossibly, "literati-type people" on the razzle get better at aphorisms the more they try to write them, like getting better at riding a bicycle or getting better at making a wagon wheel (if you happen to be a wheelwright) after learning to do it so well it almost becomes instinctive. But however good you get at doing aphorisms, every time, you must always have to find something to say, and if you can't say that, well, you can't make an aphorism without saying something. As in, "Wisdom has learned everything from chance," well, that's really saying something. But as for me, to learn how to become wise, well, I think that the chance would be a fine thing...
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is writing sleepwalkin, revising awake.
ReplyDeleteDB
What a great collection of aphorisms. Love them!
ReplyDeleteI love the skylark one the best, but "One is never wounded by the love one gives, only by the love one expects." is a very close second in my opinion!
ReplyDeleteWhen something is done for nothing it's done with the highest purpose in mind...Certainly
ReplyDeleteThank you sooo much not losing touch NP and Happy New Year!
What a treat to see this after coming home from my unplugged vacation.
ReplyDelete"Even an inchworm gets where it's going."
ReplyDeletei love this NP. and how come i didn't get an update for this new posting? :(
keep going and keep us all inspired by your works :)
Beautiful words. You're a talented poet and a brilliant prose writer. cheers! :-)
ReplyDeleteNP, I pulled my post out of my ass at 6:45 this morning. I am sure it happens to someone every day of the world. Thanks for your comment!
ReplyDeletexoxo
...such thought provoking words... Wow! you have a talent with your expressions and way with words.
ReplyDeleteBlessings & Aloha!
Thank you so much for stopping by...And hopefully you get more opportunities to visit Savannah...What you said is so true...there is still so much of Savannah, that I have yet to discover during the 6 years that we have lived here.
thanks so much for your feedback on my blog, this post is very wise and profound, I think its soemthing I need to carry in my pocket everyday the remind of living life and what its all about. Have you been writing poetry for many years? Ann
ReplyDeletewww.31momentsintime.blogspot.com
You know, about letting everything exist...I'm not sure about flu viruses or bed bugs. But, as usual, these maxims are all, with the possible exception of the aforementioned, thought provoking sparks from the old flint. Not only do sail calmly through all waters, but you maintain a consistency that makes me envious.
ReplyDeleteChaotically speaking, "Chaos is any order opposed to freedom." Nicely said. I do concur. If only because I can agree with free speech amid the chaos equation.
ReplyDeleteI have to say, these thoughts of yours are exceptional! My favorite of these is the 'inchworm'...
ReplyDeleteLove your work,
M.
"Wisdom has learned everything from chance." - So satisfying
ReplyDeleteAwesome as always. The way you form your words makes me think and challenges a lot of my preconceived notions.
ReplyDeleteLoving your aphorisms and look forward to following your blog. ~ G. Richardson
ReplyDeletePrecious aphorisms, my favorites are the first and last.
ReplyDeleteIt's not worth staying up all night just to paint masterpieces. - Marty
ReplyDeleteTrue.
Is not everything..there are OTHERS.
thank u for the comment on my blogpost "crab session "..looking forward to hearing from u soon..by the way, this is such a nice blog =)
ReplyDeleteit is true that you write from the heart so it reached straight to one's heart,
ReplyDeletefew of us are really strange,sadness is there best friend and keeps their soul active and creative,they dont want to just reach somewhere they want to keep walking and consider it life.
god bless
Sorry the comment above is posted by me but mistakenly from my son's ID.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing these. Especially love this one, "Wisdom has learned everything from chance." :)
ReplyDeleteThx for commentng on my page, it brought me back to your site, which I had lost the link to a while ago. I'm happy to reconnect and read your insights. :) My favorite: 'Even an inchworm gets where it's going.'
ReplyDeleteI like the thinking I do when I visit your place. The last one is great.
ReplyDeleteI followed you home from a comment elsewhere. I hope you are ok, and that your challenges lead you more directly to wherever you are going.
ReplyDeleteall you say makes me think...whether I want to or not! thanks for the thoughts!!...they are profound!!
ReplyDelete"The pursuit of unhappiness always succeeds"
ReplyDeletethats the best one....its so true!
I love to read you and this came at the perfect time. xo Thank you for remembering to tap my eyeballs. ;)
ReplyDeleteLovely aphorisms as usual Marty! But I didn't get the one about chaos. "Chaos is any order opposed to freedom" - Sounds like any order against freedom means chaos. I think that's it, right? lol. I hope you're well, and please keep penning away your marvelous insights. :)
ReplyDeleteAll this puts nibbles on my knobbles...indeed, I am right satisfied!
ReplyDeleteHa ha! Now I remember you! :)
ReplyDeleteYou strike me as one has debated often and thought often. Many of your statements are essays, summarized to their purest elements. There are some poems, like the Tide Rises, Longfellow, that I like because what they express cannot be understood in prose. They are more than the sum of their parts, as are many of your statements. Each of these (some culled from your archives) resonates as if I had just read a philosophical discussion:
ReplyDeleteSnow is the truth only when it's snowing.
The spider spinning its web is absorbed, but not self-absorbed.
The wind was never angry, the rain was never sad.
Should I refuse the honey because the bee stings?
The scarecrow has been in the field so long he thinks it belongs to him.
Build your castle of dreams, but don't live in it.
The true ladder of success is the one lying on the ground.
Ideas stand in the corner and laugh while we fight over them.
The feeling of being unappreciated is a failure to appreciate others.
Writing is talking to yourself-with the hope of being overheard.
Sometimes out of sheer perversity reality conforms to my wishes.
Suppose Hercules had thought about his labors first. Fortunately, for him, he just went out and did them.
Getting lost is part of getting there.
Solutions often mask the fact that there is no problem.
I envy the one simply walking down the road.
I wasn't in Buffalo when it snowed but it snowed anyway.
Dreams change the world, but only in dreams.
I like both: unicorns and horses.
The leaves on the water, the fog under the bridge. That's what I believe in.
If it rains tonight, rain will be the cause.
Happiness exists, but not the conditions of happiness.
Blessed are they who expect nohing, for they'll be pleasantly surprised.
If you paint a black picture, the picture will be black.
Everything is real when it happens and a dream afterwards.
Reasons are invented, not found.
We put ourselves through hell and that is hell
Parrots mimic their owners. Their owners consider that a sign of intelligence.
A man went in search of one perfect moment. The price he had to pay was the rest of his life.
When smashing idols, always begin with your own.
When a thing becomes indispensable it's time to give it up.
Some of our best decisions aren't decisions.
Salt-water is and isn't the ocean.
Time does not pass, it continues.
To hate everything is to be wounded by everything.
The little girl riding her bicycle. Never once did she wonder: "Is this worthwhile?"
You either love what's broken or you don't love.
The fenced-in dog barks at the one running free.
It's easier to draw a straight line than to straighten a crooked one.
All rabbits are not the same rabbit. Just as all Roberts are not the same Robert.
A few names have survived oblivion. In time oblivion will have them all.
Oh and one more, this one:
ReplyDeleteGod may be an atheist for all we know.
I actually wrote a satirical article that had the inverse of this concept as its thesis:
Earl's God
Hi NP,
ReplyDeleteGreetings from Tokyo, Japan.
Does that ring some bells?
Today I'm being selfish. I need your profound thoughts, advice and opinion to help me take an important decision. May I request you to respond to my latest post?
Thank you in advance.
Cheers,
Mark