Something to Ponder...

There are trivial truths and there are great truths.
The opposite of a trivial truth is plainly false.
The opposite of a great truth is also true.
- Niels Bohr

Niels Bohr, the great Danish physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922 for his fundamental contributions to the understanding of atomic structure and quantum mechanics, is making a point that is very Zen - or very Taoist if one prefers.

An example of a "great truth" for which the opposite is also true is the statement, "You are not your body; you are not your mind." While it is very true, if one so believes, that the "real you" is neither physical nor mental, it is simultaneously true that your body and your mind are very real, and ignoring their reality is likely to cause great suffering.

Another example of a "great truth" is the Golden Rule. It is true that we should treat others as we wish to be treated in the sense of being kind and compassionate to everyone. Yet the opposite of the Golden Rule is also true in the sense that it is kind and compassionate to recognize that everyone is called to a different life path and to honor those differences.

[As always, the purpose of these daily messages to provide something to think about, rather than to attempt to dictate conclusions.]

No statement should be believed [solely] because it is made by an authority.
- Robert A. Heinlein

Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past,
threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible.
- Maya Angelou

The more opinions you have, the less you see.
- Wim Wenders

The words of truth are always paradoxical.
- Lao Tzu

Further reading: What is "The Truth?"

To Keep the Golden Rule

What You're Sure You Know, But Don't

The Golden Rule is Not Always Golden
    

Life plays out in shades of gray rather than in blacks and whites

Prepare for the unknown by studying how others in the past
have coped with the unforeseeable and the unpredictable.
- George S. Patton

Life only appears complicated when one is worrying.
Relax, and life becomes simple again.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The contradictions are what make human behavior
so maddening and yet so fascinating,
all at the same time.
- Joan D. Vinge

The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am,
then I can change.
- Carl Rogers

Actions are always more complex and nuanced than they seem.
We have to be willing to wrestle with paradox in pursuing understanding.
- Harold Evans

I think wholeness is God's design for us;
and that often amounts to embracing contradictions.
- Bono

Life plays out in shades of gray rather than in blacks and whites.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Further reading: Overflowing Cup of Tea - Zen Koan

Maybe So, Maybe Not. - Ancient Taoist Proverb

Yin-Yang

Balance in All Things
      

Life is Complex and Filled with Contradictions

 

Willingly accept the complexity and the contradictions of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

You didn't get stamped out of a mold. You aren't a "black person" or a "white person," a "fat person" or a "skinny person," a "bad person" or a "good person." You are a highly complex human being with emotions, beliefs, capabilities. Each day you face challenges to your health, relationships, finances, and world-view -- and every day you respond to those challenges in ways which are unique to you.

Honor and love all of your unique self. Never diminish yourself with self-applied labels or categorizations.

Actions are always more complex and nuanced than they seem.
We have to be willing to wrestle with paradox in pursuing understanding.
- Harold Evans

True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize
how little we understand about life,
ourselves, and the world around us.
- Socrates

For every complex problem,
there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.
- H. L. Mencken

I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma,
a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own
mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth.
- Umberto Eco

Further reading: All Life is Paradox

Lessons from Life

Stand Rapt in Awe
      

Be Cheerful in Defeat

It's one of life's great paradoxes ...
Accepting with gratitude whatever life throws at us
is critical to happiness.
Yet without a goal and commitment, life loses much of its value.
The best we can do in the face of this paradox
is to play to win, but be cheerful in defeat
and ready to play again.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The greatest test of courage on earth
is to bear defeat without losing heart.
- Robert Ingersoll

Remember you will not always win.
Some days, the most resourceful individual will taste defeat.
But there is, in this case, always tomorrow -
after you have done your best to achieve success today.
- Maxwell Maltz

Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Further reading: Do What You Can; Trust God With The Rest (Serenity Prayer)

Make Lemonade

What is Defeat? 
      

The words of truth are always paradoxical

There are trivial truths and there are great truths.
The opposite of a trivial truth is plainly false.
The opposite of a great truth is also true.
- Niels Bohr

Niels Bohr, the great Danish physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922 for his fundamental contributions to the understanding of atomic structure and quantum mechanics, is making a point that is very Zen - or very Taoist if one prefers.

An example of a "great truth" for which the opposite is also true is the statement, "You are not your body; you are not your mind." While it is very true, if one so believes, that the "real you" is neither physical nor mental, it is simultaneously true that your body and your mind are very real, and ignoring their reality is likely to cause great suffering.

Another example of a "great truth" is the Golden Rule. It is true that we should treat others as we wish to be treated in the sense of being kind and compassionate to everyone. Yet the opposite of the Golden Rule is also true in the sense that it is kind and compassionate to recognize that everyone is called to a different life path and to honor those differences.

[As always, the purpose of these daily messages to provide something to think about, rather than to attempt to dictate conclusions.]

No statement should be believed because it is made by an authority.
- Robert A. Heinlein

Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past,
threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible.
- Maya Angelou

The more opinions you have, the less you see.
- Wim Wenders

The words of truth are always paradoxical.
- Lao Tzu

Further reading: What is "The Truth?"

To Keep the Golden Rule

What You're Sure You Know, But Don't

The Golden Rule is Not Always Golden
    

Life is Filled with Shades of Gray and Contradictions

Prepare for the unknown by studying how others in the past
have coped with the unforeseeable and the unpredictable.
- George S. Patton

Life only appears complicated when one is worrying.
Relax, and life becomes simple again.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The contradictions are what make human behavior
so maddening and yet so fascinating,
all at the same time.
- Joan D. Vinge

The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am,
then I can change.
- Carl Rogers

Actions are always more complex and nuanced than they seem.
We have to be willing to wrestle with paradox in pursuing understanding.
- Harold Evans

I think wholeness is God's design for us;
and that often amounts to embracing contradictions.
- Bono

Further reading: Overflowing Cup of Tea - Zen Koan

Maybe So, Maybe Not. - Ancient Taoist Proverb

Yin-Yang

Balance in All Things
      

Willingly Accept the Complexity and the Contradictions of Life

Willingly accept the complexity and the contradictions of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

You didn't get stamped out of a mold. You aren't a "black person" or a "white person," a "fat person" or a "skinny person," a "bad person" or a "good person." You are a highly complex human being with emotions, beliefs, capabilities. Each day you face challenges to your health, relationships, finances, and world-view -- and every day you respond to those challenges in ways which are unique to you.

Honor and love all of your unique self. Never diminish yourself with self-applied labels or categorizations.

Actions are always more complex and nuanced than they seem.
We have to be willing to wrestle with paradox in pursuing understanding.
- Harold Evans

True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize
how little we understand about life,
ourselves, and the world around us.
- Socrates

For every complex problem,
there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.
- H. L. Mencken

I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma,
a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own
mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth.
- Umberto Eco

Further reading: All Life is Paradox

Lessons from Life

Stand Rapt in Awe
      

Bear Defeat Without Losing Heart

 

It's one of life's great paradoxes ...
Accepting with gratitude whatever life throws at us
is critical to happiness.
Yet without a goal and commitment, life loses much of its value.
The best we can do in the face of this paradox
is to play to win, but be cheerful in defeat
and ready to play again.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The greatest test of courage on earth
is to bear defeat without losing heart.
- Robert Ingersoll

Remember you will not always win.
Some days, the most resourceful individual will taste defeat.
But there is, in this case, always tomorrow -
after you have done your best to achieve success today.
- Maxwell Maltz

Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Further reading: Do What You Can; Trust God With The Rest (Serenity Prayer)

Make Lemonade

What is Defeat? 
      

The Paradox of Truth

 

There are trivial truths and there are great truths.
The opposite of a trivial truth is plainly false.
The opposite of a great truth is also true.
- Niels Bohr

Niels Bohr, the great Danish physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922 for his fundamental contributions to the understanding of atomic structure and quantum mechanics, is making a point that is very Zen - or very Taoist if one prefers.

An example of a "great truth" for which the opposite is also true is the statement, "You are not your body; you are not your mind." While it is very true, if one so believes, that the "real you" is neither physical nor mental, it is simultaneously true that your body and your mind are very real, and ignoring their reality is likely to cause great suffering.

Another example of a "great truth" is the Golden Rule. It is true that we should treat others as we wish to be treated in the sense of being kind and compassionate to everyone. Yet the opposite of the Golden Rule is also true in the sense that it is kind and compassionate to recognize that everyone is called to a different life path and to honor those differences.

[As always, the purpose of these daily messages to provide something to think about, rather than to attempt to dictate conclusions.]

No statement should be believed because it is made by an authority.
- Robert A. Heinlein

Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past,
threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible.
- Maya Angelou

The more opinions you have, the less you see.
- Wim Wenders

The words of truth are always paradoxical.
- Lao Tzu

Further reading: What is "The Truth?"

To Keep the Golden Rule

What You're Sure You Know, But Don't

The Golden Rule is Not Always Golden
    

Life is Not Black and White, but Shades of Gray and Contradictions

 

Prepare for the unknown by studying how others in the past
have coped with the unforeseeable and the unpredictable.
- George S. Patton

Life only appears complicated when one is worrying.
Relax, and life becomes simple again.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The contradictions are what make human behavior
so maddening and yet so fascinating,
all at the same time.
- Joan D. Vinge

The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am,
then I can change.
- Carl Rogers

Actions are always more complex and nuanced than they seem.
We have to be willing to wrestle with paradox in pursuing understanding.
- Harold Evans

I think wholeness is God's design for us;
and that often amounts to embracing contradictions.
- Bono

Further reading: Overflowing Cup of Tea - Zen Koan

Maybe So, Maybe Not. - Ancient Taoist Proverb

Yin-Yang

Balance in All Things
      

Accept that Life is Complex and Contradictory

 

Willingly accept the complexity and the contradictions of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

You didn't get stamped out of a mold. You aren't a "black person" or a "white person," a "fat person" or a "skinny person," a "bad person" or a "good person." You are a highly complex human being with emotions, beliefs, capabilities. Each day you face challenges to your health, relationships, finances, and world-view -- and every day you respond to those challenges in ways which are unique to you.

Honor and love all of your unique self. Never diminish yourself with self-applied labels or categorizations.

Actions are always more complex and nuanced than they seem.
We have to be willing to wrestle with paradox in pursuing understanding.
- Harold Evans

True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize
how little we understand about life,
ourselves, and the world around us.
- Socrates

For every complex problem,
there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.
- H. L. Mencken

I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma,
a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own
mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth.
- Umberto Eco

Further reading: All Life is Paradox

Lessons from Life

Stand Rapt in Awe
      

Be Cheerful in Defeat, and Ready to Play Again

 

It's one of life's great paradoxes ...
Accepting with gratitude whatever life throws at us
is critical to happiness.
Yet without a goal and commitment, life loses much of its value.
The best we can do in the face of this paradox
is to play to win, but be cheerful in defeat
and ready to play again.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The greatest test of courage on earth
is to bear defeat without losing heart.
- Robert Ingersoll

Remember you will not always win.
Some days, the most resourceful individual will taste defeat.
But there is, in this case, always tomorrow -
after you have done your best to achieve success today.
- Maxwell Maltz

Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Further reading: Do What You Can; Trust God With The Rest (Serenity Prayer)

Make Lemonade

What is Defeat? 
      

Life is Full of Contradictions

 

Prepare for the unknown by studying how others in the past
have coped with the unforeseeable and the unpredictable.
- George S. Patton

Life only appears complicated when one is worrying.
Relax, and life becomes simple again.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The contradictions are what make human behavior
so maddening and yet so fascinating,
all at the same time.
- Joan D. Vinge

The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am,
then I can change.
- Carl Rogers

Actions are always more complex and nuanced than they seem.
We have to be willing to wrestle with paradox in pursuing understanding.
- Harold Evans

I think wholeness is God's design for us;
and that often amounts to embracing contradictions.
- Bono

Further reading: Overflowing Cup of Tea - Zen Koan

Maybe So, Maybe Not. - Ancient Taoist Proverb

Yin-Yang

Balance in All Things
      

Never Diminish Yourself with Self-Applied Labels

 

Willingly accept the complexity and the contradictions of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

You didn't get stamped out of a mold. You aren't a "black person" or a "white person," a "fat person" or a "skinny person," a "bad person" or a "good person." You are a highly complex human being with emotions, beliefs, capabilities. Each day you face challenges to your health, relationships, finances, and world-view -- and every day you respond to those challenges in ways which are unique to you.

Honor and love all of your unique self. Never diminish yourself with self-applied labels or categorizations.

Actions are always more complex and nuanced than they seem.
We have to be willing to wrestle with paradox in pursuing understanding.
- Harold Evans

True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize
how little we understand about life,
ourselves, and the world around us.
- Socrates

For every complex problem,
there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.
- H. L. Mencken

I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma,
a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own
mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth.
- Umberto Eco

Further reading: All Life is Paradox

Lessons from Life

Stand Rapt in Awe
      

Play to Win, but be Cheerful in Defeat

 

It's one of life's great paradoxes ...
Accepting with gratitude whatever life throws at us
is critical to happiness.
Yet without a goal and commitment, life loses much of its value.
The best we can do in the face of this paradox
is to play to win, but be cheerful in defeat
and ready to play again.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The greatest test of courage on earth
is to bear defeat without losing heart.
- Robert Ingersoll

Remember you will not always win.
Some days, the most resourceful individual will taste defeat.
But there is, in this case, always tomorrow -
after you have done your best to achieve success today.
- Maxwell Maltz

Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Further reading: Do What You Can; Trust God With The Rest (Serenity Prayer)

Make Lemonade

What is Defeat? 
      

It's OK that Life is Not Simple

Prepare for the unknown by studying how others in the past
have coped with the unforeseeable and the unpredictable.
- George S. Patton

Life only appears complicated when one is worrying.
Relax, and life becomes simple again.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The contradictions are what make human behavior
so maddening and yet so fascinating,
all at the same time.
- Joan D. Vinge

The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am,
then I can change.
- Carl Rogers

Actions are always more complex and nuanced than they seem.
We have to be willing to wrestle with paradox in pursuing understanding.
- Harold Evans

I think wholeness is God's design for us;
and that often amounts to embracing contradictions.
- Bono

Further reading: Overflowing Cup of Tea - Zen Koan

Maybe So, Maybe Not. - Ancient Taoist Proverb

Yin-Yang

Balance in All Things
      

Complexities and Contradictions

Willingly accept the complexity and the contradictions of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

You didn't get stamped out of a mold. You aren't a "black person" or a "white person," a "fat person" or a "skinny person," a "bad person" or a "good person." You are a highly complex human being with emotions, beliefs, capabilities. Each day you face challenges to your health, relationships, finances, and world-view -- and every day you respond to those challenges in ways which are unique to you.

Honor and love all of your unique self. Never diminish yourself with self-applied labels or categorizations.

Actions are always more complex and nuanced than they seem.
We have to be willing to wrestle with paradox in pursuing understanding.
- Harold Evans

True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize
how little we understand about life,
ourselves, and the world around us.
- Socrates

For every complex problem,
there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.
- H. L. Mencken

I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma,
a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own
mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth.
- Umberto Eco

Further reading: All Life is Paradox

Lessons from Life

Stand Rapt in Awe
      

Cheerful in Defeat and Ready to Play Again

It's one of life's great paradoxes ...
Accepting with gratitude whatever life throws at us
is critical to happiness.
Yet without a goal and commitment, life loses much of its value.
The best we can do in the face of this paradox
is to play to win, but be cheerful in defeat
and ready to play again.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The greatest test of courage on earth
is to bear defeat without losing heart.
- Robert Ingersoll

Remember you will not always win.
Some days, the most resourceful individual will taste defeat.
But there is, in this case, always tomorrow -
after you have done your best to achieve success today.
- Maxwell Maltz

Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Further reading: Do What You Can; Trust God With The Rest (Serenity Prayer)

Make Lemonade

What is Defeat? 
      

The Paradox of Great Truths

There are trivial truths and there are great truths.
The opposite of a trivial truth is plainly false.
The opposite of a great truth is also true.
- Niels Bohr

Niels Bohr, the great Danish physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922 for his fundamental contributions to the understanding of atomic structure and quantum mechanics, is making a point that is very Zen - or very Taoist if one prefers.

An example of a "great truth" for which the opposite is also true is the statement, "You are not your body; you are not your mind." While it is very true, if one so believes, that the "real you" is neither physical nor mental, it is simultaneously true that your body and your mind are very real, and ignoring their reality is likely to cause great suffering.

Another example of a "great truth" is the Golden Rule. It is true that we should treat others as we wish to be treated in the sense of being kind and compassionate to everyone. Yet the opposite of the Golden Rule is also true in the sense that it is kind and compassionate to recognize that everyone is called to a different life path and to honor those differences.

[As always, the purpose of these daily messages to provide something to think about, rather than to attempt to dictate conclusions.]

No statement should be believed because it is made by an authority.
- Robert A. Heinlein

Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past,
threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible.
- Maya Angelou

The more opinions you have, the less you see.
- Wim Wenders

The words of truth are always paradoxical.
- Lao Tzu

Further reading: What is "The Truth?"

To Keep the Golden Rule

What You're Sure You Know, But Don't

The Golden Rule is Not Always Golden
    

Willingly accept the complexity and the contradictions of life

True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize
how little we understand about life,
ourselves, and the world around us.
- Socrates

Actions are always more complex and nuanced than they seem.
We have to be willing to wrestle with paradox in pursuing understanding.
- Harold Evans

I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma,
a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own
mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth.
- Umberto Eco

For every complex problem,
there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.
- H. L. Mencken

Willingly accept the complexity and the contradictions of life.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

You didn't get stamped out of a mold. You aren't a "black person" or a "white person," a "fat person" or a "skinny person," a "bad person" or a "good person." You are a highly complex human being with emotions, beliefs, capabilities. Each day you face challenges to your health, relationships, finances, and world-view -- and every day you respond to those challenges in ways which are unique to you.

Honor and love all of your unique self. Never diminish yourself with self-applied labels or categorizations.

Further reading: Lessons from Life

Paradox

Stand Rapt in Awe