Unpublishable Musings

Reblogged from picturesofanightscene :

Reblogged from lykzomgitsjako :

"The value of philosophy is, in fact, to be sought largely in its very uncertainty. The man who has no tincture of philosophy goes through life imprisoned in the prejudices derived from common sense, from the habitual beliefs of his age or his nation, and from convictions which have grown up in his mind without the co-operation or consent of his deliberate reason. To such a man the world tends to become definite, finite, obvious; common objects rouse no questions, and unfamiliar possibilities are contemptuously rejected. As soon as we begin to philosophize, on the contrary, we find… that even the most everyday things lead to problems to which only very incomplete answers can be given. Philosophy, though unable to tell us with certainty what is the true answer to the doubts it raises, is able to suggest many possibilities which enlarge our thoughts and free them from the tyranny of custom. Thus, while diminishing our feeling of certainty as to what things are, it greatly increases our knowledge as to what they may be; it removes the somewhat arrogant dogmatism of those who have never traveled into the region of liberating doubt, and it keeps alive our sense of wonder by showing familiar things in an unfamiliar aspect."

Reblogged from thischarmlessgirl :

Reblogged from dailydoseofdylan :

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

Bob Dylan
Wonder Boys Soundtrack
Things Have Changed

Reblogged from shinebabyyshine :

"Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will tell you the truth."

"Well, she lives for the written word
And people come second, or possibly third"

Reblogged from camelllito :

"‘Because to influence a person is to give him one’s own
soul. He does not think his natural thoughts, or burn with
his natural passions. His virtues are not real to him. His
sins, if there are such things as sins, are borrowed. He
becomes an echo of some one else’s music, an actor of a
part that has not been written for him. The aim of life is
self-development. To realize one’s nature perfectly,—that
is what each of us is here for. People are afraid of
themselves, nowadays. They have forgotten the highest of
all duties, the duty that one owes to one’s self. Of course
they are charitable. They feed the hungry, and clothe the
beggar. But their own souls starve, and are naked.
Courage has gone out of our race. Perhaps we never really
had it. The terror of society, which is the basis of morals,
the terror of God, which is the secret of religion,—these
are the two things that govern us. And yet—
‘I believe that if one man were to live his life
out fully and completely, were to give form to every
feeling, expression to every thought, reality to every
dream,—I believe that the world would gain such a fresh
impulse of joy that we would forget all the maladies of
mediaevalism, and return to the Hellenic ideal,— to
something finer, richer, than the Hellenic ideal, it may be.
But the bravest man among us is afraid of himself. The
mutilation of the savage has its tragic survival in the selfdenial
that mars our lives. We are punished for our
refusals. Every impulse that we strive to strangle broods in
the mind, and poisons us. The body sins once, and has
done with its sin, for action is a mode of purification.
Nothing remains then but the recollection of a pleasure,
or the luxury of a regret. The only way to get rid of a
temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows
sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself,
with desire for what its monstrous laws have made
monstrous and unlawful. It has been said that the great
events of the world take place in the brain. It is in the
brain, and the brain only, that the great sins of the world
take place also."

"‘I never approve, or disapprove, of anything now. It is
an absurd attitude to take towards life. We are not sent
into the world to air our moral prejudices. I never take
any notice of what common people say, and I never
interfere with what charming people do. If a personality
fascinates me, whatever the personality chooses to do is
absolutely delightful to me. Dorian Gray falls in love with
a beautiful girl who acts Shakespeare, and proposes to
marry her. Why not? If he wedded Messalina he would be
none the less interesting. You know I am not a champion
of marriage. The real drawback to marriage is that it makes
one unselfish. And unselfish people are colorless. They
lack individuality. Still, there are certain temperaments that
marriage makes more complex. They retain their egotism,
and add to it many other egos. They are forced to have
more than one life. They become more highly organized.
Besides, every experience is of value, and, whatever one
may say against marriage, it is certainly an experience. I
hope that Dorian Gray will make this girl his wife,
passionately adore her for six months, and then suddenly
become fascinated by some one else. He would be a
wonderful study.’"

Reblogged from solo-mujeres :