Objectivism

Rand called her philosophy "Objectivism", describing its essence as "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute."

COLLECTING FIREFLIES

I’m afraid

I don’t understand

the death part of life

although at my age

you might think I might,

and not necessarily

the last death-part

but the everyday bits of it

that constantly intrude

The only thing I can think

to make sense of it

is that its shadow

over each tenderness

makes each tenderness

more rich and poignant,

as if tenderness were

the only point of light

in this camera obscura,

which is the room

in which we spend lives

netting such points

like children

in a dark field in summer

collecting fireflies

by Jim Culleny

9/2/15

Hopscotch

"Would I find La Maga? Most of the time it was just a case of my putting in an appearance, going along the Rue de Seine to the arch leading into the Quai de Conti, and I would see her slender form against the olive-ashen light which floats along the river as she crossed back and forth on the Pont des Arts, or leaned over the iron rail looking at the water. It was quite natural for me to climb the steps to the bridge, go into its narrowness and over to where La Maga stood. She would smile and show no surprise, convinced as she was, the same as I, that casual meetings are apt to be just the opposite, and that people who make dates are the same kind who need lines on their writing paper, or who always squeeze up from the bottom on a tube of toothpaste." 

Julio Cortazar

Parking Garages and Illusion of Choice

Parking garage are an ironic parody of an immigrant's life. In there circuitous paths, leading from their lowest underground levels to their top floors, you frequently find yourself approaching a dead-end, a wall, just to realize all you need is to gently steer the wheel into a right turn, or a left turn!
Sometimes you go round-and-around and finally decide to park, and after a few minutes of moving back and forth you realize you barely fit in, and maybe, just maybe, you're better off searching somewhere else for spot ... you get out knowing that you may not find a better spot, but you do it anyways, since the act of 'searching' gives you a temporary relief; that is, you learn that the illusion of choice is more rewarding than anything real life can offer you!

On Life

Life may be compared to a piece of embroidery, of which, during the first half of his time, a man gets a sight of the right side, and during the second half, of the wrong. The wrong side is not so pretty as the right, but it is more instructive; it shows the way in which the threads have been worked together. -- Schopenhauer

Do I contradict myself?

Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes.

Walt Whitman