Some of my aphorisms, just a set of individually-arrived-at observations. A few of them might push against each other if you lean on them too hard, since they weren’t all written about the same problem.

  • To achieve a state of cognitive flow is to uncover the fundamental meaning of existence.
  • Intellectual and spiritual maturation is not a product of ideal circumstances, but a deliberate act of will amid imperfect conditions.
  • It is not the initial immersion in adversity that destroys a person, but the failure to exert the effort required to come out of it.
  • The capacity to endure hardship for the sake of evolution is a profound existential blessing.
  • The ultimate objective is to transcend mere compliance and act from a foundation of absolute awareness.
  • Ignorance offers a hollow tranquility, but there is profound bliss in awareness, despite the pain that clarity brings.
  • Even when happiness may remain elusive, the refusal to succumb to suffering remains an accessible and necessary choice.
  • It is not the thought itself that torments, but the recursive rumination upon it.
  • Amid the volatility of chaos, one must identify the constant - the invariant - to maintain spiritual integrity.
  • The true essence of a person’s character is often revealed when their actions are involuntary and lack an intended audience.
  • Trust is a currency that can only be exchanged with the strong willed; the inherent fragility of most minds render it a rare commodity.
  • When a person repeatedly insists on a trait about their own character, they are often fighting its opposite within themselves - the repetition is an attempt to convince both the world and themselves of what they fear is untrue.
  • Resistance is born from command; cooperation is secured through consultation.
  • Humanity is governed by internal reward structures; to expect someone to act against it is to ignore the fundamental mechanics of individual existence.
  • Companionship is often found in the safety of mediocrity; the peaks of success and the depths of failure are inherently lonely landscapes.
  • A primary indicator of privilege is the luxury of remaining oblivious to its existence.
  • Market value is often not a reflection of inherent quality; it is merely a measure of the collective whims of those willing to pay for it.
  • Every manifestation of your intellect and art carries an inherent love for its creator; treat your work with the kindness it deserves.
  • Knowledge, much like a supplement, should be consumed with discernment; the mind can only absorb so much before utility diminishes.
  • Strong relationships are built on loving, respecting, and accepting someone for who they fundamentally are; you can still push them to grow, but trying to change what they cannot change only teaches them guilt - which might be exactly why such relationships have become so rare.
  • Even wanting to be selfless is a kind of selfishness - so what matters isn’t being selfless, it’s choosing, wholeheartedly, what you’re selfish about.
  • Someone already has whatever you want, and is still unhappy - so want things, but do not let having them decide your happiness; accept the state you are in, and move only from one stable state to the next, not from one craving to the next.
  • In anger, a person reaches not for the flaws that trouble them, but for the ones they know already trouble you - the wound lands because you believed it first, long before they ever said it. That is why silence serves anger better than words ever could.
  • Give someone something they want, or a way to avoid something they don’t - and make sure what you want rides along with it.
  • It takes time to tell which problems are truly yours - some you carry for years without ever realizing they were never yours to begin with.