Philosophical Twists

Muser
3 min readApr 18, 2024

The unexamined life is not worth living.

- Socrates

Though the examined life is often a satire

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Know thyself

- Ancient Greece

If you can

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What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

- King Solomon

But, the stage and actors change, and therein lies the pun.

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He who knows does not speak. He who speaks does not know.

-Lao Tzu

And so, we are led by orators

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What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others.

- Confucius

Even if you are a masochist or sadist

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We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world.

- Buddha

And the world makes us think…and so on.

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To win without fighting is best.

- Sun Tzu

Though its unlikely

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Much learning does not teach thought.

- Heraclitus

And much thought shows how ignorant we are.

— — —

You cannot step into the same river twice.

- Heraclitus

But, third time, you may be lucky.

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Nothing exists; even if something exists, it cannot be known; and even if it could be known, this knowledge cannot be communicated to others.

- Gorgias

If that statement communicates anything…

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I do not think I know what I do not know.

- Socrates

Also, I do not know what I think I know. Further, I think I do not know what I know. And besides, I know what I think I do not know

— — —

It is better to suffer wrong than to do wrong.

- Plato

It is also wrong to suffer wrong for long when the wrong gets the better of you

— — —

Who watches the watchmen?

- Juvenal

Other watchmen, of course. And they are in cahoots.

— — —

Anyone can get angry — that is easy — or give or spend money; but to do this to the right person, to the right extent, at the right time, with the right motive, and in the right way, that is not for everyone, nor is it easy.

- Aristotle

Nor human

— — —

Man is the rational animal.

- Aristotle

But, often, he is irrational

— — —

Nature abhors a vacuum.

- Unknown

No wonder we talk more than we listen

— — —

Death is nothing to us, since when we are, death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.

- Epicurus.

Till then, grin and bear with life.

— — —

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

- Seneca

But the meeting may or may not happen

— — —

It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.

- Seneca

No one is rich.

— — —

All the world’s a stage. And all the men and women merely players.

- Shakespeare

So, if you act well, you may become rich and famous.

— — —

Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached.

- Vivekananda

Though the goalposts keep shifting throughout your life.

— — —

Be the change that you wish to see in the world.

- Gandhi

But, first, get your eyes checked.

— — —

You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, nor be attached to inaction.

- Bhagavad Gita

Absolutely. Neither act nor don’t act. Go figure.

— — —

Aham Brahmasmi

-Upanishad

Me too, Me too…

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