This mixing up of the holy with the sensuous is anything but pleasing to my taste; I cannot like men to set apart certain especial places, consecrate them, and deck them out, that by so doing they may nourish in themselves a temper of piety. No ornaments, not even the very simplest, should disturb in us that sense of the Divine Being which accompanies us wherever we are, and can consecrate every spot into a temple. What pleases me is to see a home-service of God held in the saloon where people come together to eat, where they have their parties, and amuse themselves with games and dances. The highest, the most excellent in men, has no form; and one should be cautious how one gives it any form except noble action.

[Goethe, Elective Affinities, Chapter VII.]

We then spoke upon religious subjects, and the abuse of the divine name. "People treat it," said Goethe, "as if that incomprehensible and most high Being, who is even beyond the reach of thought, were only their equal. Otherwise, they would not say the Lord God, the dear God (der liebe Gott), the good God. This expression becomes to them, especially to the clergy, who have it daily in their mouths, a mere phrase, a barren name, to which no thought is attached whatever. If they were impressed by His greatness they would be dumb, and through veneration unwilling to name Him."

[Conversations of Goethe with Eckermann, December 31, 1823.]

"Globalization is all about wealth. It knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. Without borders the world will become–is visibly becoming–a howling desert of traffic fumes, plastic and concrete, where nowhere is home and the only language is money."

~Peter Hitchens

One well-considered line is better than all the billions of careless words that will be thrown about today. A contemplative moment of silence is superior to both. — me, 2014

The world would be happier if men had the same capacity to be silent that they have to speak. — Baruch Spinoza

? Childhood memories

☝️I was there.

I just have to say there is something ominous about the Fourth of July taking place on a New Moon in Gemini. A moon in Gemini is deeply unstable, as Gemini has a two sided twin nature to it, and this perfectly encapsulates the unstable tension in American society rn.

☝️If it's a good one, which is rare these days.