Quotes

Writing computer software is one of the purest creative activities in the history of the human race. Programmers aren’t bound by practical limitations such as the laws of physics; we can create exciting virtual worlds with behaviors that could never exist in the real world. Programming doesn’t require great physical skill or coordination, like ballet or basketball. All programming requires is a creative mind and the ability to organize your thoughts. If you can visualize a system, you can probably implement it in a computer program.

So I now value local first, which implies full data ownership, with content in a highly portable format, without rigid dependence on 3rd parties, especially not networks or remote services.

Of course, I now enjoy the specter of losing my backups, but I prefer being (ir)responsible to myself over being beholden to the mysterious demigods that reside in The Cloud Computer.

I somehow see what's beautiful
In things that are ephemeral
I'm my only friend of mine
And love is just a piece of time
In the world, in the world

Wealth, women and wine can make anything happen in this world!

Never find an explanation for your failure. People who are successful have no explanation; they know it takes endless striving.

15 close friends, 50 regular contacts, 150 active acquaintances

Seems like a lot. For me, it's 0 close friends, 0 regular contacts, and 0 active acquaintances. I think I simply never developed any useful social skills which would help me make and keep friends or acquaintances. I wish I had (somehow) kept in touch with at least some people I have met throughout my life. It has never been easier to stay in contact than in all of human history, but no, I had to ghost and ignore everyone and everything. After 29 revolutions around the sun, I have only now started to realize that all that vacuous superiority has led me nowhere. There is only a faint aftertaste of missing out, which sticks to me like tar. I can’t wash it off.

In the nicest possible way, this is basically the oldest lesson there is.

You weren’t happy because you optimized your feelings or had the right opinions. You were happy because you stopped focusing on yourself and became responsible for other people. Six kids needed you, in the real world, every week. That kind of outward focus kills emptiness fast.

Chasing happiness, moral righteousness, or political engagement just loops you back into your own head, helping people doesn’t. Feeling good is a side-effect of being useful, not the goal.

Every longing is actually a longing for the infinite, finding expression in installments.

Spirituality becomes real only when the pain of ignorance tears you from within. If you are comfortable with your ignorance, you will never really seek.

It is a cliche in our business that the first 90 percent of the work is easy, the second 90 percent wears you down, and the last 90 percent - the attention to detail - makes a good product.

Pure l33t skills does not a career ladder make.

The curse of intelligence is restlessness, the curse of lacking intelligence is envy. The curse of courage is isolation, the curse of lacking courage is regret.

Your death will come on an ordinary day, in the middle of unfinished plans, and the world will continue without you.

So live a little.

You will remain the same until the pain of remaining the same is greater than the pain of change.

Your thoughts, your ideas, your personality and quirks are the essence of your website. Everything else is optional.

Happiness equals reality minus expectations.

Once you name something, it stops you seeing the whole of it, or why it matters. You focus on the word, which is just the tiniest part, really, the tip of an iceberg.

Madālasā's lullaby

You are pure, conscious
and taintless
You are not subject to the
illusoriness of the world
Give up this sleep of
delusion, this dream
which confounds
the mind

Why are you crying?
You are pure
The name you have acquired
is not yours, merely a
mind-created fiction
applied to you

The body is not you,
nor are you of it
The Lord of the universe
doesn't cry either!
This sound is an illusion
attributed to you

The qualities imagined as
yours are inherent in
all the senses
The insignificant elements
within the man acquire
the condition of growth...

...through the addition of
food, water and drink
It is not a growth or
diminution of You

Within the body shell
You remain constant
Do not become confounded
by this body which has been
fastened upon you

"Father"
"Son"
"Mother"
"Wife"
"Mine"
"Not Mine"

Do not assign much
significance to what is only
an aggregation of elements

The deluded man thinks
pains alleviate pain
The deluded man thinks
enjoyment of pleasures
gives happiness

The intelligent man,
whose mind is free from
confusion knows pleasures
and sorrows to be alike

The carriage goes upon
the earth, the body is
seated in the carriage
The Self resides
within the body

The deluded Jīva thinks
"I am this body"
The Self has no attachment
to His carriage
Foolish is such ignorance!

It is not how much you do – how you do it is what makes life beautiful.

Once you enjoy the inner pleasures of your being, external pleasures will seem rudimentary.

Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning.

Embrace what you don’t know, especially in the beginning, because what you don’t know can become your greatest asset. It ensures that you will absolutely be doing things different from everybody else.

little by little
day by day
what is meant for you
will find its way

Perfect is the enemy of shipped.

As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.

The price of loving someone very much is never loving anyone again.

When you get what you want in your struggle for self,
And the world makes you king for a day,
Then go to the mirror and look at yourself,
And see what that man has to say.

For it is not a man's father, mother or wife,
Whose judgment upon him must pass,
The fellow whose verdict counts most in life
is the one staring back from the glass.

He's the fellow to please, nevermind all the rest,
For he's with you clear to the end
And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult test,
If the man in the glass is your friend.

You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But the final reward will be heartache and tears,
If you've cheated the man in the glass.

Intelligence without courage leads to anxiety because you will spend your time overthinking instead of acting, taking risks, improving your life.

If you don't have awareness, you can't change something.

Rejoice and delight in yourself, no matter how it’s going!

We don’t usually realize we’re craving quiet. But in my experience, this is where the deepest experience of life lies, in the quietude.

In stillness, the world is restored.

The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear.

The first step in the acquisition of wisdom is silence, the second listening, the third memory, the fourth practice, the fifth teaching others.

As long as you know your intentions are pure, never stress yourself about anything or anyone. you have to trust that you will always end up being where you’re meant to be & that it’s never your loss respectfully.

Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary.

After getting what you manifested, ask for discipline to keep it and wisdom to multiply it.

Difficulty is what wakes up the genius.

Inaction is a slow death.

...the second best time is now.

Crypto is like catnip for programmers. It is hard to keep us away from it, because it's challenging and fun to play with. And programmers respond very badly to the insinuation that they're not clever enough to do something.

Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend.

If you’re not sure why you’re doing something, you can never do enough of it.

The distance between dreams and reality is called discipline.

Breathe.

If you feel overwhelmed, breathe. It will calm you and release the tensions.

If you are worried about something coming up, or caught up in something that already happened, breathe. It will bring you back to the present.

If you are moving too fast, breathe. It will remind you to slow down, and enjoy life more.

Breathe, and enjoy each moment of this life. They’re too fleeting and few to waste.

Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our happiness.

It is not in our control to have everything turn out exactly as we want, but it is in our control to control how we respond to what happens

Clear thinking becomes clear writing; one can't exist without the other.

And when nobody wakes you up in the morning, and when nobody waits for you at night, and when you can do whatever you want. What do you call it, freedom or loneliness?

A half truth is a whole lie.

We should be careful of each other
We should be kind
While there is still time

Every rise and ascent to a higher level represents the death of our lower personality at the level we leave behind. Then, we can gently return to that level and whisper to the ear of the actor playing that role with love, understanding, and affection, 'Yes, you are me, but I am not just you!' This way, we can end the dominion of that role in our lives. We both free it from an existence it actually hates and offer ourselves an opportunity for growth! The biggest obstacle in abandoning the role, that is, the lower personality, is not knowing the existence of a higher level - the fear that if the role goes away, we will fall into a void.

For an eye washed in silvers, everything looks gray.

1. Do your duty, but do not concern yourself with the results.
2. The fruits of your actions are not for your enjoyment.
3. Even while working, give up the pride of doership.
4. Do not be attached to inaction.

The greatest obstacle to blogging is the temptation to futz with your website instead of writing. Don’t succumb!