Nowadays everybody is so scared of life and of risk and of anything that comes from it, that we've developed brittle shells around ourselves which make us rather lonely beings.
— Iain McGilchrist, The Matter with Things Dialogues Episode 20 [YouTube]
Nowadays everybody is so scared of life and of risk and of anything that comes from it, that we've developed brittle shells around ourselves which make us rather lonely beings. — Iain McGilchrist, The Matter with Things Dialogues Episode 20 [YouTube]
Put the other way around, nothing is scarier to humans than isolation. Isolated people have not only their physical security threatened, but their mental security as well. Because instinctively, we are well aware that we cannot live alone. As a consequence, we are always longing for a strong “connection” with other people. … Do you understand what
... See moreFumitake Koga • The Courage to Be Happy: Discover the Power of Positive Psychology and Choose Happiness Every Day
There's a moment when a person starts fearing the shoddy, half-lived life of indulged anxiety more than the cold millstone of courage, and something instantly changes in them. They become spiritually taller and three times as attractive
existential dilemma, or the undercurrent of confusion and fear that accompanies living in a vast world where everything is impermanent.
Brad Stulberg • Master of Change: How to Excel When Everything Is Changing – Including You
“Humans don’t mind hardship, in fact they thrive on it; what they mind is not feeling necessary. Modern society has perfected the art of making people not feel necessary.” – Sebastian Junger
Morgan Housel • Makes You Think
This is precisely what the weak do everywhere. Through bitter experience they have learned how to exercise extreme care, how to behave so as to reduce the threat of immediate danger from their environment. Fear thus becomes a form of life assurance, making possible the continuation of physical existence with a minimum of active violence.
Howard Thurman • Jesus and the Disinherited
No wonder people hunker down and avoid committing. The macro risk is gone; nobody is seriously worried about global nuclear conflagration. [1] We’re worried about comparatively micro risks, though: financial instability; the grinding risk of having more debt and fewer assets than the previous generations; the fear of relentless social atomization —... See more