Quote of the Day

If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go: perchance it will wear smooth--certainly the machine will wear out… but if it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then I say, break the law. Let your life be a counter-friction to stop the machine. What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn.

- Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience and Other Essays

Quote of the Day

Doctors won’t make you healthy. Nutritionists won’t make you slim. Teachers won’t make you smart. Gurus won’t make you calm. Mentors won’t make you rich. Trainers won’t make you fit. Ultimately, you have to take responsibility. Save yourself.

- Naval

Quote of the Day

Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations. Books, the oldest and the best, stand naturally and rightfully on the shelves of every cottage. They have no cause of their own to plead, but while they enlighten and sustain the reader his common sense will not refuse them. Their authors are a natural and irresistible aristocracy in every society, and, more than kings or emperors, exert an influence on mankind.

- Henry David Thoreau, Walden

Quote of the Day

Our life is frittered away by detail. An honest man has hardly need to count more than his ten fingers, or in extreme cases he may add his ten toes, and lump the rest. Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail. In the midst of this chopping sea of civilized life, such are the clouds and storms and quicksands and thousand-and-one items to be allowed for, that a man has to live, if he would not founder and go to the bottom and not make his port at all, by dead reckoning, and he must be a great calculator indeed who succeeds. Simplify, simplify. Instead of three meals a day, if it be necessary eat but one; instead of a hundred dishes, five; and reduce other things in proportion.

- Henry David Thoreau, Walden

Quote of the Day

Nothing, to my way of thinking, is a better proof of a well ordered mind than a man’s ability to stop just where he is and pass some time in his own company.

- Seneca

Wisdom Of The Week

Many survived after humans fled from a contaminated area, covering 1,000 square miles in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union. They then went on to breed.Today, hounds freely roam the streets of abandoned towns and villages, as desperate for a tummy rub as ever — but at risk from a lack of food, harsh Ukrainian winters and wolves which prowl the nearby forests.
That’s where Lucas Hixson comes in.
The former radiation researcher has sacrificed his own career to care for the dogs of Chernobyl.

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Lucas, 32, says: “Chernobyl is an isolating place to work. So having these animals around is good for the workers. There were around 1,000 dogs roaming in the area. They only lived until they were two or three — if one got to five we called him ‘Grandpa’. We started a vaccination and sterilisation programme to bring the number down and give them a better quality of life. The dog population is now around 750.”

The most pressing concern, though, as the bitter Ukrainian winter approaches — temperatures can drop to -20C — is the daily feeding routine.

A lack of funds means Lucas only provides food for the dogs through the winter, as they can find their own food in summer.Just like the soldier in the Chernobyl TV drama, Lucas whistles to entice the dogs from their hiding spots at each of the 15 feedings stations. But, instead of a gun, he is armed with a 30kg sack of dried dog food and distributes up to seven of them daily. He trains the dogs to return to the same location each day, so they know where to get food.

The divorced dad-of-two says: “Sometimes you don’t need to whistle because they recognise the van. As soon as I get out they are there waiting for me.”

For the first time last year, the Chernobyl authorities allowed him to rehome pups. Since then, 54 have been sent to families in America and Canada. Stricter quarantine laws in the UK means he is yet to do his first British adoption. Over in Pripyat, where 50,000 people used to live, nature is taking over. An eerie quiet hangs over abandoned apartment blocks and schools which are slowly being colonised by the forest.

- Former Radiation Researcher Sacrifices Career to Care for the Lost Dogs of Chernoby

Quote of the Day

A mind that listens with complete attention will never look for a result because it is constantly unfolding; like a river, it is always in movement. Such a mind is totally unconscious of its own activity, in the sense that there is no perpetuation of a self, of a “me,” which is seeking to achieve an end.

- Jiddu Krishnamurti, The Book of Life: Daily Meditations With Krishnamurti

Quote of the Day

All profound things, and emotions of things are preceded and attended by Silence… Silence is the general consecration of the universe.

- Herman Melville

Quote of the Day

The first and most important field of philosophy is the application of principles such as “Do not lie.” Next come the proofs, such as why we should not lie. The third field supports and articulates the proofs, by asking, for example, “How does this prove it? What exactly is a proof, what is logical inference, what is contradiction, what is truth, what is falsehood?” Thus, the third field is necessary because of the second, and the second because of the first. The most important, though, the one that should occupy most of our time, is the first. But we do just the opposite. We are preoccupied with the third field and give that all our attention, passing the first by altogether. The result is that we lie – but have no difficulty proving why we shouldn’t.

- Epictetus, The Art of Living: The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness and Effectiveness

Quote of the Day

A Stoic is someone who transforms fear into prudence, pain into transformation, mistakes into initiation, and desire into undertaking.

- Nassim Nicholas Taleb