Think for yourself and let others enjoy the privilege of doing so too. – Voltaire Tolerance (tolerantia in latin) is defined as the attitude of someone who accepts in others ways of thinking and living different from their own. It is considered a virtue, a moral obligation which involves respect and consideration for the other person. “ Free from bigotry, allowing different races, religions, practices, and opinions to co-exist, it is a pragmatic formula for the functioning of society, ” writes Hans Oberdiek in Tolerance: Forbearance and Acceptance. A century ago, Einstein (1879-1955), said in foresight : “ Laws alone …
Category: Philosophy
Ten generations after Adam, the Earth was corrupt, filled with violence. Evil spread more than ever. Humankind believed in idols who were busy building their fortune; religion was deviated and truth was twisted. Wanting to stop this dark course, God chose a righteous man, Noah, to guide people to the right path. Noah called people to partake in true knowledge, and warned them against the coming evil. A few among them heeded, while others did not want to believe that Noah was the messenger of God who spoke the truth. They mocked him and even tried to persecute him. God …
“Possession is nine tenths of the law” used to say my honorable teacher at university. The lore is when the natural instinct to possess is in excess, it incites jealousy and impairs the psyche. Years later, I came across this exceptional book, Overcoming Jealousy, the best one I have read on this intricate emotion. It unfolds the various manifestations of jealousy, and renders it tangibly clear with examples drawn from real life. The sources of jealousy, whom we envy, why it is often hidden, its destructive effects and remedies to fight it off are genuinely portrayed. Jealousy Defined A universal …
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives,” says author Annie Dillard. Goethe, meticulous about the passage of time reflects: “Every second is of infinite value” for one who captures it. Seneca states that what we do each day figures the meaning of our life and calibrates the “relative” passage of time. He says, “ Life, if lived well, is long enough, ” and one can depart with a sense of contentment. In his renown ouevre, the Divine Comedy, Dante vividly depicts the states of souls and their dwellings in the other world. He …
“When you die, you actually know you are dead because your consciousness continues to exist …” says Sam Parnia, director of the first critical care and resuscitation research lab in the world at New York’s NYU Langone Medical Center. Known with his AWARE research, his lab has been studying hundreds of people who had Near-Death Experience (NDE) – who were clinically dead but were brought back to life by resuscitation after a cardiac arrest. The time lapse in-between actual death and coming back to life varied in each case from a few seconds to more than 20 minutes . …
Italy is marking the 700th anniversary of the departure of Sommo Poeta — the Great Poet, Dante Alighieri (1265 Florence-1321 Ravenna), and his masterwork, The Divine Comedy. He wrote this monumental epic at the age of 35 when he was exiled from his hometown of Florence to spend the rest of his life in Ravenna, until his death. In this timeless book, Dante sets out on a voyage to the other world where souls embark upon terminating life on earth. Depending on their merit earned on earth, they were to reside in one of these realms : Inferno, Purgatorio, or …
To love beauty is to see the light. The renown French author Victor Hugo (1802-1885) reflected on the bliss of beauty that strikes the eye, and said : To love beauty is to see light. Nearly a century after Victor Hugo, Yuri Gagarin (1934-1968), the first man who traveled to space in 1961, expressed in awe as he gazed across the cosmos : Rays were blazing through the atmosphere of the earth, the horizon became bright orange, gradually passing into all colors of the rainbow: from light blue to dark blue, to violet and then to black. What an indescribable …
To do good, which, as we all know, is universal, is in the heart of being human. Yet we find it difficult to do even small acts of kindness like lending an ear to a distressed friend, greeting the gardener at the park, offering coffee to a subordinate, or paying attention to the needs of a family member whose presence we take for granted. Simply because we naturally live in our ego, self-occupied with primarily satisfying our own pleasure and achievement needs in professional, social and familial contexts. We are programmed to see ourselves in the center of the …
To live among today’s society and to influence others instead of being influenced by them —now that’s a feat ! – Ostad Elahi In his pioneering book Public Opinion, Walter Lippmann (1889-1974) examines our susceptibility to outside manipulation, and tendency for self-deception. Our minds or mental spaces are lured by the media and the social influences of our milieu, which define our choices, snatch our attention and shift our values. Content management, artificial intelligence, and neuroscience all intervene with how we perceive, think, and make decisions; they blur our comprehension of the truth and ultimately influence who we really are. …
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your …
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