Copyright Notice

All blog posts are copyrighted by N.S. Palmer. They may be reposted as long as the author byline, URL, and copyright notice are included. Excerpts may be used with attribution under the fair use provisions of U.S. copyright law.

Categories
Recent Posts
Written by: | Posted on: | Category:

"To every man there openeth
A Way, and Ways, and a Way.
And the High Soul climbs the High way,
And the Low Soul gropes the Low,
And in between, on the misty flats,
The rest drift to and fro.
But to every man there openeth
A High Way, and a Low.
And every man decideth
The Way his soul shall go."
-- ...

Written by: | Posted on: | Category:

We spend a lot of our lives on automatic pilot. We act out of habit, without thinking about what we're doing.

That's not always a bad thing. If we had to think our way through everything we did, we couldn't get most of it done.

Suppose you're driving to work and another car abruptly cuts in front of you. You don't have time to think ...

Written by: | Posted on: | Category:

You've probably heard the joke about why a ham sandwich is better than eternal happiness:

  • Nothing is better than eternal happiness.

  • And a ham sandwich is better than nothing.

A ham sandwich isn't perfect, but it's better than having no food at all.

Do you want to live in a perfect society? ...

Written by: | Posted on: | Category:

Life is like a game of chess.

I was going to say "life is like a box of chocolates," but apparently someone else has used that already.

In high school and college, I played a lot of chess. A chess game can end in two ways:

  • One player wins and the other ...

Written by: | Posted on: | Category:

Suppose that Joe believes he's a parakeet. Is that okay?

It depends.

If Joe goes to work, obeys the law, fulfills his responsibilities, and doesn't drive people nuts by making bird noises, then I'd say it's okay. The belief makes him happy. It doesn't hurt anyone else. We should leave Joe alone.

However, if Joe eats only seeds, ...

Written by: | Posted on: | Category:

I'm pretty sure that the Dalai Lama quote is fake, but it's still true. "Not my effing problem" can lead not only to inner peace, but also to social peace.

Think for a moment about what it means to see everything in the world as "our problem."

First, it's incredibly conceited. It implies that we ...

Written by: | Posted on: | Category:

What should you do when someone dislikes you?

The first step is simple and obvious:

Get over it.

People sometimes dislike us for all kinds of reasons that have nothing to do with us.

Maybe we remind them of a bully in high school, or of a woman who rejected them. Maybe they don't like how we dress. Or maybe their ...

Rudyard Kipling's poem
Written by: | Posted on: | Category:

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) was a Nobel prize-winning British writer. His poem "If" has been a source of strength and inspiration to many people around the world. I can't improve on it, so here it is:

If ---

If you ...

Blog | Why Sane People Believe Crazy Things