Topics I pondered upon today:

1. Many men spend their entire lives fishing without ever knowing that it isn’t fish they’re after. . . 

2. Morality is the basis of civility.  Truth is the substance of morality.  The difference between man and beast is the ability to recognize truth over instinct.  If you dispense with truth, you destroy civilization and turn man back into a pack of wolves.    Principles and values that you cannot stick to when tested aren’t actually your principles and values, they are hobbies. 

3. Suffering of the soul occurs when your actions do not align with the yearning of your heart. 

4. The purpose of propaganda is not to persuade or convince, not to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better.  When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lie themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity.  To assent to obvious lies is in some small way to become evil oneself.  One’s standing to resist anything is thus eroded and even destroyed.  A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. 

5. Think good thoughts, because all that you are is the result of what you have thought.  When you have inspired thoughts, trust them, then act upon them.  And, the Lord will inspire you more. 

6. There are two ways to live your life: One is as though nothing is a miracle.  The other is to live as though everything is a miracle.  The second is the source of peace and happiness. 

7. Even if you have some rough days, remember, the most uncomfortable days are the days you learn the most about yourself.