Humans are essentially social animals. No man is an island. Etc. You’ve heard it all, but now there’s science that actually kind of shows it. Happiness, in short, is not merely a function of personal experience, but also is a property of groups. Emotions are a collective phenomenon. Happy people tend to cluster with happy people, and unhappy people likewise–shocking,… Read more →
Tag: wisdom
My thought for the day
There are things I miss, but not enough to pay the price for having them. “The Old Man Dreams” Oh for one hour of youthful joy! Give back my twentieth spring! I’d rather laugh, a bright-haired boy, Than reign, a gray-beard king. Off with the spoils of wrinkled age! Away with Learning’s crown! Tear out life’s Wisdom-written page, And dash… Read more →
A short break from politics
And now, a few observations about things completely unrelated to either North American election: That Wisdom book showed up today. Totally worth the money. It’s been a long time since I bought a “coffee table book”, but if I had a coffee table I’d be proud to leave this out on it. You know where I’m find more interesting reading… Read more →
Aside
“I always thought that inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.” That’s one of many, many tidbits to be found at the site for Andrew Zuckerman’s new book, Wisdom. Go there. Watch the clip. Then see if you can resist the urge to buy the book.
And one last time
If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of potential — for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints; possibility never. —Søren Kierkegaard Words ought to be a little wild for they are the assaults of thought on the unthinking. —John Maynard Keynes… Read more →
I don’t know about ‘blessed’, but it sure makes you happier
I knew it all along, but it’s nice to have some science to back it up Spending on Happiness — HBS Working Knowledge Can money buy you happiness? Yes—so long as you spend the money on someone else. According to new research, giving other people even as little as $5 can lead to increased well-being for the giver. That’s the… Read more →
A Very Happy Thought
There is some conventional wisdom that experience brings a certain necessary cynicism. That having seen it all before removes the shine from life. That there are always some disappointments, and they accrete over time into a dull patina between us and our experience of the world. Me, I think that’s certainly understandable, but not necessary. And today, I think that… Read more →
What I’m Chewing On Today
Own only what you can always carry with you; know languages, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag. —Alexander Solzhenitsyn So I can’t claim not to have stuff… but I can certainly claim to understand that the things that matter are people and stories. It doesn’t hurt to remind myself from time to time, though. There… Read more →
Pay Attention
I have always known That at last I would Take this road, but yesterday I did not know that it would be today. Ariwara no Narihira (translated by Kenneth Rexroth) A strange old man Stops me, Looking out of my deep mirror. Kakinomoto no Hitomaro (translated by Kenneth Rexroth) The mists rise over The still pools at Asuka. Memory does… Read more →
Maybe There’s A Reason We Associate Wisdom With Age
I’m leaving the title off of this until the end–read it first. Doctor, you say there are no haloes around the streetlights in Paris and what I see is an aberration caused by old age, an affliction I tell you it has taken me all my life to arrive at the vision of gas lamps as angels, to soften and… Read more →
