~
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_p...of_is.html
“We and all our existences are non-entities.
Thou art the Absolute Being whose appearance is transitory.”
-- Rumi
"To the mallet of the Highest Mind
The heavens are the smallest possible ball."
-- Akhlaq-i-Mohsini
"Even if false gold makes a man happy:
At the mint it will be identified."
-- Rumi
"The touchstone knows what is gold."
-- Gulistan
"Yes, the world is an illusion. But truth is always being shown there."
-- Subhani
"Make mankind your dwelling-place."
-- Hariri
"Do not tell your secrets to everyone in this headquarters, Earth.
We have surveyed it well. There is no one to whom to entrust secrets."
-- Anwar al-Suhaili
(from
http://www.idriesshahfoundation.org/book...mis-probe/)
========================
• Can we actually "know" the universe? My God, it's hard enough finding your way around in Chinatown.
• It is impossible to experience one's own death objectively and still carry a tune.
• Eternal nothingness is O.K. if you're dressed for it.
• The universe is merely a fleeting idea in God's mind -- a pretty uncomfortable thought, particularly if you've just made a down payment on a house.
• Not only is there no God, but try getting a plumber on weekends.
-- Woody Allen, from "My Philosophy", in
Getting Even (1978)
[Scene: Art museum; modern art gallery]
Allen:
[on the make] That's quite a lovely
Jackson Pollock, isn't it?
Attractive Young Woman: Yes, it is.
Allen: What does it say to you?
Woman: It restates the negativeness of the universe. The hideous lonely emptiness of existence. Nothingness. The predicament of man forced to live in a barren, godless eternity like a tiny flame flickering in an immense void with nothing but waste, horror, and degradation, forming a useless, bleak straitjacket in a black, absurd cosmos.
Allen:
[pause] What are you doing Saturday night?
Woman: Committing suicide.
Allen:
[longer pause] What about Friday night?
-- Woody Allen,
Play It Again, Sam (1972).
All people know the same truth. Our lives consist of how we choose to distort it.
-- Woody Allen, from
Deconstructing Harry (1997)