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Philosophies of Life

Comments: 25

Someone asked me recently if there was some philosophy by which I tried to live my life. This was my reply:

I find that being an atheist, while not exactly diminishing the repertoire of philosophies one can live by, does allow you to cut them from a tangier wheel of cheese than that with which the more pious might top their existential crackers (that said, I’m really just a red cheddar kind of guy).

I don’t consciously try to follow any particular philosophy (I don’t think I’d be any good at that), but there are some general points that are usually kept somewhat operational in the mid levels of consciousness. Here are the ones I can think of (in no particular order):

Pay attention, ask questions, and take notes.
Try it. You might like it.
On balance, try to be a net gain in any situation.
Do no harm.
If you must, do so with overwhelming force and a clear exit strategy.
If you do fuck up, stand up and take the bullet. No one wants to listen to excuses and besides, it probably doesn’t matter anyway.
Be honest and sincere, even if you must lie.
As far as anyone knows we only get one shot at life so make it fun. Technically, everything is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Be polite. It makes such a difference.
Don’t worry about making the world a better place because very few of us actually know what “better” means. It’s probably enough to leave it as you found it. And clean up after yourself.
Make sure you always care for something else — another living thing. It could be a plant, it could be a pet, it could be a relative. It can’t be your car or your hi-fi or your shoes (which should be reasonably but not obsessively well polished).
Play regularly.
Try to read more.
Fuck ‘em if they can’t take a joke.

I guess any list of one’s philosophies of life comes off sounding like that terrible “wear sunscreen” thing of a few years ago, but there you have it. The principles which have, er … got me where I am today.

•••
Posted to Oh, the Humanity • 2003.07.14 (Mon) • 23:43

Comments

Posted by Mary Beth 2003.07.15, 03:20

great list.

so…. new career on the public speaking circuit?

Posted by Jeff 2003.07.15, 22:01

I’ve been constructing my own list (always happens close to my birthday). Let me add one here:

Always do what you say you are going to do.

My wife and I actually were initially attracted to each other because we both followed through with what we said we would do (like “I’ll call you tomorrow”). But the above works equally well in work situations. Trust is a nice thing to have in a fellow human.

Posted by p 2003.07.16, 00:44

i shamelessly took your idea, wrote my own list, and posted it on my site.

Posted by D 2003.07.24, 13:50

“I find that being an atheist, while not exactly diminishing the repertoire of philosophies one can live by, does allow you to cut them from a tangier wheel of cheese than that with which the more pious might top their existential crackers (that said, I’m really just a red cheddar kind of guy).”

No, someone needs to tell you. That’s just vapid, and not good at all. You have to try very hard in order to do excellent work, and yours is thin gruel.

Posted by Abhimanyu Chirimar 2003.07.27, 15:39

respect. well thought out and written.

Posted by BEBE 2003.08.25, 06:09

Has any one read the book Insurrectum Ex Lux Lucis? The author features a lot of philosophy in the plot of his story and everything makes for good reading. However, I am uncertain as to what he’s trying to say, really. I believe that he is exerting human hope above all other philosophy kind of like the supreme philosophy. Makes sense. Works for me. A kind of optimisim. However, I’d like someone else’s opinion. It’s a new book that a friend told me about and I purchased it straight from the publisher, www.rebellionofthelight.com

Posted by bosch 2004.01.21, 00:38

what a list. well done and remember if the shit fits wear it, who gives a fuck what anyone els thinks be an individual, not a sheep like the rest of the biostructure of so called civilisation.

ps if it smells like fish dont stick yr tongue in it.

Posted by danny 2004.04.07, 12:31

I like your point about fucking up and taking a bullet…just let me ask u this…if u could dodge the bullet would you? would it be worth it…avoiding the red tape and still knowing u fucked up? or would it eat at you like a worm….

Posted by Valerie 2004.07.10, 03:51

once you hit the calm chilled out stage and realise life is for living, don’t loose this perspective.. ( don’t worry you will know when it comes ) and don’t drink too much coffee, it will set you off balance..

Posted by Priscilla Preston Prescot 2004.08.09, 11:31

I would just like to remind everybody that you never stop learning and to love everybody no matter what.
Another gem, controversy wouldn’t exist if there wern’t valid points for both sides!!!!!!! Luv youz all 4 eva and eva

Posted by shaweta 2004.08.18, 23:08

this is good. i agree with most points. however jargon demoralises me cause it means somebody out there is “more” special whereas any thinker would (should) know that knowledge of any kind is a construct. for eg., if we climb a ladder(say of sucess, which by the way most of us want at least in youth) we can only proceed by coming down the other side of it! so life should be lived in a way where every moment is left to human to experience, to jump to the next moment, livinf in the awareness of the present… such should be the chain of life. very difficult initially, but very sucessful once u get a hang of how to live this philosophy.

all i am trying to say is that i believe in the buddhist philosophy to life-the middle path ie. there r common points i can find with most thinkers…so this is all i wanted to share, after reading the main article and the comments on it afterwards…

Posted by Jon 2004.09.17, 01:54

my philosophy in life is to just take the blame when u did wrong

Posted by Dustin 2004.11.06, 08:08

i disagree.

Posted by Dustin 2004.11.06, 08:10

The Buddhist speak of kharma. What goes around, comes around and so forth. I believe that with life, you get what you put into it. you dont try to have a good life, and you dont try to have a bad life, you just let your life follow its own path and just be who you are.

please dont stab in the back. it hurts.

Posted by Benjamin 2004.12.14, 14:00

i like these points in life. one of mine: keep your word = keep good credit

Posted by Dom 2005.05.01, 22:42

I like the article, just remember that life is a tiny distraction offered to you in the immense space-time continum (i dunno what the heck that is but it sounded good here) so try and make the best of it whilst respecting others and making the fun last as long as possible.

Posted by No-one..... Really.. 2005.09.20, 01:24

Sometimes the good really do die young.

It hurts.

Posted by Mackie Allen 2005.10.05, 00:20

Always remember that life is a big vacation from nothingness.

Since vacations are never quite long enough, enjoy it while it lasts. ( Taken from the Greatest philospher ever, Mackie Allen)

Posted by KYle 2005.10.06, 10:21

Lifes a bitch, fuck it

Posted by eliana 2005.10.13, 05:58

Life is a war between you and your fears Half of us fight for the sake of fighting, just to be like the guy next to us The other half fights to be safe for only a moment Until someone’s pistol confronts the back of their heads Eliminating one more fool who thought they could make it

Posted by Vicki* aka $ThRils 2005.11.16, 05:50

i loved the artical, and all the coments, all valid points.

i think that the most important thing to remember is, none of this has anymeaning unless you have your own views on it.

personally i beleive that life is what you make of it. you could go on thinking that your life is shit, or you can change it. life is change there for is nothing. because for each person it is something different and cannot have a determined outcome. you could take the bullet, or you could dodge it, it all depends on the individual. watch the flaming toilet seat fall from the sky and kill you, OR move out of the way its your choice

p.s. if you havent seen the t.v. series “dead like me” you probably wont understand the flaming toilet seat. in which case substitute toilet seat for… some other space junk. eg. missle, hubble teslicope…. what have you.

Posted by Dzizzle 2006.03.02, 12:23