Sublime

Any schoolboy can do experiments in the physics laboratory to test various scientific hypotheses. But man, because he has only one life to live, cannot conduct experiments to test whether to follow his passion (compassion) or not.

Aristotle’s pithy two-word definition of man—the rational animal—has gained classical status. “Animal” is the proximate genus; “rational” is the specific difference.

To live only for some future goal is shallow. It’s the sides of the mountain which sustain life, not the top. Here’s where things grow.

Or else: the vanity of trying to say anything about anyone.

aesthete

Human things are uncomfortably complex,

soliloquizing