Darts and Provocations: Volume 1
Each line a spark. Each spark, a projectile.
A single line can release more power than a book.
Inspiring or cutting, uplifting or unsettling. Sometimes even medicinal.
These aphorisms are sharp.
Each is an edge. Each, a focused detonation.
Read — and brace yourself.
1.
There’s never been a moment such as this and it is passing. History does not repeat but always echoes, sometimes powerfully. Experience the flow of moments fully and completely. That is the fullness of life. This flow will make you suffer, make you cry, make you laugh, and bring you joy. In turn, impart the same on others, and, if possible, with an arc towards kindness. May you then grow in strength and change, from one to the next.
2.
I am an author of nature. I open her and expose her secrets to my readers. That is my genre. I will not bow to another. Follow, if you wish — for you, too, are a product of nature.
3.
I reveal what is common to all things: the differences, the opposites, the similars. My deepest insights lie beneath, within, and in between all that I write. My voice is the connecting line. It threads through all I write.
4.
What of my voice? — The words I craft are delectable and sweet. However, they remain mysterious; your palate has not yet learned to savor them.
5.
Superiority is a euphemistic word for freak. A genuine outlier, who possesses mastery of a skill or level of intelligence, etc., such that no one can compare. When exposed, it is easy to see why the best are always cast out and rejected.
6.
To leave a situation unresolved, to say just, “maybe,” is a coward’s way of saying no. Such people do not merit admiration but — avoidance. Muster the courage, rather, to take a stand, to take a risk, to give a chance, to let another in, or wish them well.
7.
When someone experiences something beautiful, what happens? One acknowledges the power this object or idea has over oneself. It has not merely captured our attention or admiration; we tacitly acknowledge our weakness before it. It is beautiful enough for us to compromise for it. To abandon others for it. To submit to it. That is what lurks within the beautiful. Beauty transforms into necessity. Otherwise, it is not actually beautiful or not beautiful enough.
8.
Humanity's ongoing attempt to successfully communicate with each other (and other life forms) is our most beautiful and honorable — failure. Consequently, I have nothing more to say.
9.
The only content man is the dead man. Therefore, a man's life is one of despair. Sadly, woman has it far worse.
10.
Despair becomes us. The trick is to overcome it — and ourselves.
11.
Why am I irreverent? Why do I challenge and offend you so?
Do I mask a weakness — or do I aim to broaden your mind?
And if you accept it — you’ll smile. You’ll have grown.
Healthier. Happier. Subtler. More dangerous.