Why Spiderman is my favorite superhero

There are only a handful number of people in my life who knows that for a very very long time Spiderman has been my favorite superhero of all. The prime reason for that is just how relatable Peter Parker is. The typical shy nerdy guy who has all of his efforts almost neglected, has girl problems, has money problems, is bullied at school, overburdened with responsibility - All of this and still he is good at heart - very admirable personality. In this post I will catalogue all the things about him which I have noticed in his films which makes him my favorite hero out there.

1) He is highly intelligent-

    In every movie, he is shown as the high school genius, probably the best in his town. At a very young age, he has a knack at science being geeky and does really amazing things -

                                        

As time and again he has revealed that science is his true passion and that it always drives him forward. Apart from that, strategic planning wise, he is really cool too. He does not have an iron armor or impenetrable skin so he has to dodge bullets, heavy attacks from his enemies and always have to think up couple of moves ahead to beat them up. That is probably shown the best in Tom Holland's movies where he uses movie references to beat bad guys up.

In a nutshell, he performs really well at school, has a high IQ and a great passion for science.

2) He is a loser-

  This one is quite obvious. A typical nerdy guy with low social skills, cannot pay his rent, everybody bullies him, makes fun of him and is constantly reminded of that he ain't worth nothing. Frankly speaking it requires an iron heart just to go through life while facing just this but our kickass spiderman faces this and much much more and still inspires a lot of us.

3) Willpower -

     He barely manages to juggle between his already pathetic personal life where he runs late for everything, cant confess to his love of life, - and the superhero life which leaves him exhausted but he still gets up every morning doing basically the same thing over and over. He watches his alter-ego Spiderman being constantly traduced by the very newspaper he works in. He cannot let anybody come close to him because of the danger of what will happen once his identity is revealed despite of wanting to have a life with them. I mean man, he has god level willpower.

4) His relationship with Gwen Stacy-

    Okay, this is a big one. This HUGE story arc is portrayed in the Amazing Spiderman series. Here's the thing. He is really into Gwen but owing to his awkward and introvert nature is unable to talk to her. Through luck though he finally gets to date her but guess what her father is a policeman who hates Spiderman. Add to that, when he finally knows about Peter, he asks him to promise that he will stay away from his daughter because the sheer danger Peter brings with him to his near ones. DESPITE all the struggles he went through to make her his girlfriend, he KEEPS the promise even though Gwen desperately wants to be with him (since she also knows that he is spiderman) and stays away from her.

That really shows his character- of how much caring and ethical he is. But here comes the tragedy, After some time Gwen manages to convince him back to her life only ultimately leading to her father's predictions coming true. She gets kidnapped and gets KILLED in front of Spiderman. This was ultimately Peter's responsibility. Imagine this, first because of him his dear uncle died (killed by the thief Spiderman let go once) and now Gwen dies too because of him. Obviously, he gets shattered and quits being Spiderman. He is emotionally destroyed.

                             

 BUT all it takes is one recorded speech about hope from her for him to come back to business because ultimately he has a responsibility to fullfill. In comics, he was able to fully recover once MJ comes into his life (The comic book MJ is this happy go jolly extroverted girl who secretly knew all along that Peter was Spiderman and was interested in him since even before Peter was with Gwen).

5) He sacrifices his personal life for his duty-

Time and again, Peter faces hard choices whether to go on a date with his love interest or to saving a mob. And he always chooses the latter, every single time. Yes there were times when he was just fed up with his role and wanted a simple life (Far from home) yet ultimately he returned to his job sacrificing all of it. Though at this point, it can be argued that this trait is not unique to Spiderman alone and many other superheroes does that. Take for instance, Batman. He, instead of enjoying pleasures of a billionaire chooses to correct whats wrong in his city. BUT there is one major difference between Batman and Spiderman. It is that Batman is highly obsessive about his role as a caped crusader. He desperately wants  to be Batman and not some complaisant or a player or something. He begs for monitor duty during Christmas vacations in Justice League (animation), he never uses his money much on himself, he risks his life again and again without thinking even for a split second simply because he has made fighting crimes his ultimate life goal(I also relate heavily with this particular trait of Batman. There are things in my life I go all out working towards it without caring about myself. I will talk about them later).

THAT, is not the case with Spiderman however. He is just a teenager. He have his desires, attractions. He wants to enjoy his life, he wants to come in spotlight but he cannot and he chooses that way himself and constantly let go of his personal life for his duty because -

                           

You obviously know the quote here, right?

6) He is just a teenager-

Isnt't it amazing... such maturity, such sense of justice, such willingness to stick to his responsibility when his heart is dangling somewhere else, such genuine care for others, such ability to pick himself despite going through serious tragedies in life - all of this while being just a teenager. That's one of the single best reason why young audiences love him so much and are able to relate with him. Also he gets to fight some really evil villains. Take Green Goblin, Kingpin, Venom. They are pretty dark characters- too much for a teenager.

In fact, it is just ironical that a dull loser guy like Peter Parker gets to embark such twisty roller coaster of a life. It is a triumphant feel that connects with many millenials who are not able to do much in their lives as a representative analogous to, "Ohh well take THAT!" He is not a loser after all, his fucked up life actually adds to his greatness and we are nothing but truly happy that such an average joe like Peter gets to do this-

7) His sense of humor-

  He cracks up really funny jokes many times! Against his introverted weak aura, whenever he is in the Spiderman suit he becomes this self-confident funny cool guy who everyone loves to hang out with. He lets out this side of his personality while wearing the suit which is actually amazing.


So that's the end of it! Things which makes Spiderman someone I truly look upto and admire. As a final give away I have collected some really cool Spiderman wallpapers which I am going to share here - (Guess which one is mine currently :)) Enjoy!

Wallpapers link

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"Keep trying" - but how much?

"Try try but never cry" , "great things happen to them who don't give up trying" , "nothing is over until you stop trying"...

You must have heard these lines and similar all over the internet. They are the de facto standard for the so called generation of  "motivational quotes" and they deserve to be. In fact, to keep trying is a very usual solution when things don't happen your way. When nothing seems to be working even when you tried your best. When you get disheartened or feel stuck. Determined people keep trying here and some of them succeed. The rest wonders whether its the time to give up or try harder the next time.

There are endless accounts of leaders, successful businessmen sharing how their journey was filled with failures. When they kept trying even when everybody thought they should give up or its probably not worth it. Steve jobs here nails it while explaining rule for success. He argues that you really need to love what you are doing to make yourself motivated enough to keep going when it gets really tough because it does get tough enough for any rational person to give up.

Sylvestor Stallone's script for Rocky (which he wrote for 20 hours straight) was rejected 1500 times. Then he received offers up to $325,000 which he turned down because he was not allowed to act in it. He finally agreed on with $35,000 offer which allowed him to act. The rest is history. Another example is of Walt Disney. He was fired from the newspaper he worked for "not being creative enough". His company experienced bankruptcy in initial stages.

And there are many more. Many of the successful leaders were judged for being incapable. Many of them failed, multiple times. But what really kept them going? How to decide whether you will be one of them?

The answer, in my opinion, to both the questions is same and that is belief. The underlying difference in the psychological construct of the one who is eventually going to succeed and the one who is not, is the belief to win. Solid, bulletproof belief  and the ultimate sense of urgency. Either this or nothing. When you don't want to do anything else and you believe in what ever you are doing, you will end up keep trying until you succeed. This is a time tested framework with endless number of examples. Problem arises when people confuse it with something which is not. And that is sisyphean.

In the zealous but disarrayed state of anxiously trying to put efforts, we probably waste a lot of time and energy and consequently destroy the quality of life in a false hope of actually trying to improve it. The efforts you started to improve your life can become potential cause for misery, not only to you but also to the people around you. Why are you working so hard? For whom are you working? Are you even clear what you will get if you succeed? Why are you punishing yourself when you can simply take a break and relax for a while?

When things are not working your way for way too much time, relax. Take your time to have a neutral perspective. If somebody else is going through the same situation, what advice would you give to him? Sometimes we care too much about something which may not be worthy enough. At that time, if we shift our focus away for a little while, it may help a lot to rationally make a decision and figure out something else which may be even more amazing.

The thing is apart from the hard work you should know the right work. Nothing happens if you are pushing the wall by bare hands. Life does not give a damn about how hard are you working, it gives you results only when you are doing the right thing. And figuring out the right thing has a lot to do with intuition. Again, intuition is not completely in your hand, it is just what you receive without doind anything. Instinct and intuition are easily confused. Instinct is a hardwired body response. Something which comes due to your experience and practice is an instinct. For example, when an experienced footballer decides to kick the ball in a certain direction, it is due to his continuous practice that his body is able to decide the best course for positive outcome. Intuition taps in to completely unknown. It is a logical leap, there is nothing in between, no experience to derive your rationale from. Once you truly understand this, the ability to make decisions become better.


Of course, I am not talking about not considering anything seriously. Chasing a challenging a goal is sure a very rich and learning experience. My goal is to be motivating enough for those who seriously want to keep trying but at the same time to ask for those who are not so conscious about their desire towards a goal. Those people spend way too much time and mental energy towards something which may well be beyond their reach(and it is OKAY if it is so). What we need, to truly enjoy our life is something which keeps us engaging enough but also which matches our abilities and desires.

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What is the most valuable advice you can give in life?

Once upon time a man was suffering from existential crisis from long time. He did not find his materialistic life worth living. Day by day his frustration increased and one day he decided to leave everything and go out for a spiritual training under a  perfect master. Leaving his job, wife, family and everything else, he packed two pairs of clothes and some food and set off on the journey. He was a very ruthless person and he wouldn't settle for any saint. He decided he will find a perfect master in the world for himself and then ask him the questions. Only the best and not anything less than that.

He first went to Chicago, there he asked local people who is the most perfect master in the world. People directed him to a famous and reputed church priest. He went there and asked him questions. The priest asked him to stay at his residence, follow a priestly life before answering the questions one by one. The man stayed there and  everyday on instructions he used to sing songs in God's glory. At the end of the prayer sessions, he used to ask the priest his own questions and to every question the priest used to simply read a passage from Bible which he seemed relevant. This did not satisfy the man at all and he left the place.

Then he went to Saudi. There also he searched for the most perfect master and he was sent to a wise Sufi saint. The locals first attempted to answer his questions but he refused to listen saying that he will only receive answers from a perfect master. He went to the place of residence of the saint.There every time he asked a question, the saint will simply start to say stories for the praise of the Lord and suggested him to do the same. He said the God will help to find the answers from himself. He tried that for many days. After everything he did, he had to say words of praises for God in hope to get some answers. One month passed without any answers and he got frustrated. He then asked the Sufi why are there still not answers to which the saint started to again tell stories in praise for God. Furious at this, he left the place.

Then again in search of a perfect master, he went to Japan. There he met a master who told him to learn deep concentration which according to him was the best spiritual life. The man agreed but for every small mistake the master used to beat him a lot. If he was late in bringing food for even a minute or if he disturbed his concentration even for a bit, the master used to beat him a lot. He could not tolerate this and after few days he ran away from the place.

Then, he came to India. There in search of the perfect master he came to a rishi who used to always meditate. He appeared wise, gentle and didn't ask to do any religious tasks as well. He decided to stay there hoping that he have found the perfect master. He asked one day "Guruji what is life?"

The rishi opened his eyes and said, "Life is like a beautiful flower." The man again asked, "But a Christian priest once told me that life is like a thorn!" to which the rishi replied, "Well, it must be his life!"

The man got amused at this and he wanted to ask more but the saint went back to meditation. The man used to cook food, clean the house for weeks but he got very little time to ask the questions as the saint was always meditating and whenever he used to ask, the saint will reply with just a one-liner like above and go back to meditation. This did not satisfy him so he decided to leave the place.

Then, he went to Tibet. There he said to the people that he have travelled across the world in search of a perfect master but could not find any. There also he went to several monasteries but none of them satisfied him because there the monks already had many disciples and they remained busy. There a monk suggested him to visit this one particular monk who lives in solace and do not have any disciple. They told him that he is the wisest among all of them, too gentle and also remains completely free because he haven't had any disciple for years!

He ran towards the place. This time he thought he have found it. The most perfect master of the world. He didn't eat or drink anything for 2 days straight travel. He finally arrived at the place and saw the monk sitting in silence. He asked one question to which the monk answered brilliantly in complete detail filled with logic. It was the best answer till now for the question.The man got heavily impressed and asked the monk to accept him as a disciple to which the monk refused. The man fell on the floor,

"O monk! I have traveled the entire world in great frustration only to find a perfect master for myself. I have gone through great pains and effort and when I have finally found you, you are going to refuse?"

"Yes, because", the monk replied, "I only accept perfect disciples!"


This is the most valuable advice. Never look for perfection. The man couldn't find any master because he was looking for a perfect master and that Tibetan monk couldn't find any disciple because he was looking for a perfect disciple. Life is beautiful in its own imperfection, don't compromise it in the context of logic or intellect. Nobody is perfect but the thing is, it is not required at all!

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Jalal ul-din Rumi

Jalalulldin Rumi is one of the most loved ones from the world of the mystics. Mystics don't get love because they are nice, handsome or stuff, they receive love because they themselves shower love first. This is the miracle of love, the purest form of it, Show it and "ye shall receive" it back because we all are made of the same love which resonates after getting triggered by those showering love unconditionally. It starts to flow freely all from your body to outside it and then to other beings, with the only condition is that for you to set it free without any hinderance. There are countless number of mystics who teach the path of love and it is for very courageous people. The path of love begins by first loving yourself, just completely. You fill your self with immense love by fully accepting yourself, just like the way you are, just like the way God has made you, with full peace and grace. And then slowly slowly, you are completely filled with love to an extent that you are unable to hold it and it overflows. You are deeply immersed in it and it just reaches whomsoever is in front of you and "captures" him too. Now you have become a part-of love. No, you have become love. There is no difference between love and you, you have been immersed in it fully and your identity has been dissolved. Love has become you and you have become love. It is said that mind stops working in love which is true. If you are feeling it fully, your mind's hold on you gets weaker and weaker, because the real master of your body-the heart has awakened to its potential. Now, mind can no longer work, its illusions can no longer work. And if mind stops working, who will you be? Nobody! Just flowing in the ocean of love. This is the ultimate emotional experience, man is capable to have.(Note, only emotional).

 In the world of Sufis, the ultimate spiritual awakening is achieved by simply "loving God", completely submitting to Him, being completely dissolved, losing your identity and then filling it completely with love. And remember they are loving God and in Islam, it is very strict that you cannot have God assuming any kind of shape or form. How could they even love God so completely, so madly? How is it possible for the material mind to love someone of whom it don't have any image, or characteristics? That's why many Hindus and others might never be able to grasp the profoundness of Sufism and that's also why many intellectuals too might miss it completely. Amidst, the so much confusion and misinterpretation of Sufi texts based on their literal meanings, still they are widely read among those who understand them, who understand the music, who understand the rhythm, who understands their wavelength of consciousness, their boundless joy and among them, there is a man who is incomparable- Rumi.

Sufism is the mystical branch of Islam. It objectively rejects many dogmas from the religion and is aimed at the overall humanity. Sufism is an art, a music. But, music is "haraam" is Islam. Yes, although there are here and there ambiguous verses in Quran for music of beating of drums or Allah and David conversation, but majority of the Islamic scholars prohibits almost all the types of modern music, Yes. But Sufism is on a complete contrast, it very much out of the dogmas and that's why fundamental Muslims are against Sufism. Well, let them stay there, we are not talking about them. Sufis have termed Rumi as Mevlana, i.e. their master. Rumi was born to a Persian speaking family. His father was a theologian and mystic himself but Rumi was going to be at a completely different legacy. He was a preacher for some time till he met the Shams-e-Tabrizi. The meeting spiritually transformed him and even motivated him to begin the inner journey. He was the founder of "Sama", a Sufi dance you probably have observed-

This is a religious practice, path to attain God -Sama. It is said that Rumi when heard the beating of the gold, he found of a rhythm of "there is no god but Allah" and then stretched out in happiness and began whirling. This dance brings man to a kind of drunkard state and to lose his senses. Interpretations can be different. It can be imagined that while whirling around Rumi found his inner self which is static and thus said, "there is no need now to go to mosque". Sama symbolizes the man's journey from ego to ego-free. From selfishness to the joy of love.

He was a great poet, of course with the masterpiece Masnavi to his credit, we will focus on his lovely quotes making us remember our own self, our inner being where God actually is-

                       

                       

                       

                            

 
                 

                               

                    

                                       


                       

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Carl Sagan

I would not hesitate to say that he is one of the most spiritual and loving person I have ever seen. Yes, a scientist can be a spiritual person and be proud of it because his understanding about spirituality is neither narrow-minded nor any less than extremely profound depth. He was a man who will have your feel deep reverence and humongous respect.

For those who don't know him, he was an American astronomer, astrophysicist,a professor at Cornell, a science popularizer and an author. He was a founding member of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (formerly known as CSICOP - the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal). He has written hundreds of research papers and his work in astronomy is of very important significance. He initiated one of the most famous skeptical principles, "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence". And how can we forget Cosmos? His brilliant way of communication, soul-soothing voice and deeply humble nature, his sheer dedication towards work, his scientific understanding and inquisitiveness about nature makes him a complete package. There have been many brilliant scientists till now but very few touch the hearts of people- Carl Sagan is one of them and probably among the top of them.

His quotes are a fresh reading, very intriguing, profoundly written showcasing his exceptional skills. I am absolutely sure that a single article will never do justice to describe a man for whom the appreciation surpasses all the limits of English vocabulary. He time and again reminded us about the scarily large nature of our Universe but with added wisdom. He taught us to be a skeptic without losing wonder for the "vast and deeply humbling" Universe. I absolutely love this man and his smile.

If you want to know him, read this exceptional piece from him. When Voyager 1 spacecraft left from the planet to explore the solar system, engineers on Sagan's suggestion made it to turn back at take a photo of Earth and they got this-

 The absolute tiny dot is Earth. You probably need to look at it again to determine it. Now this surely can be a devastating picture completely redefining what we know about ourselves. It was the first time, somebody took a picture of the planet from this far. At this frightening picture Sagan wrote in his book Pale blue dot-

“Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.” 

Please please listen to this historic piece with added charisma of his voice as well!

Pale Blue dot

• Here is Carl Sagan taking on religion!

“How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, “This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant?” Instead they say, “No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.” A religion, old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the Universe as revealed by modern science might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths.”

• And Carl Sagan taking back on a very widely prejudiced thought about scientists being "dry" because they try to break things too much- 

“It is sometimes said that scientists are unromantic, that their passion to figure out robs the world of beauty and mystery. But is it not stirring to understand how the world actually works — that white light is made of colors, that color is the way we perceive the wavelengths of light, that transparent air reflects light, that in so doing it discriminates among the waves, and that the sky is blue for the same reason that the sunset is red? It does no harm to the romance of the sunset to know a little bit about it.” 

• An excerpt taken from his one of the many essays-

There is a wide yawning black infinity. In every direction the extension is endless, the sensation of depth is overwhelming. And the darkness is immortal. Where light exists, it is pure, blazing, fierce; but light exists almost nowhere, and the blackness itself is also pure and blazing and fierce. But most of all, there is very nearly nothing in the dark; except for little bits here and there, often associated with the light, this infinite receptacle is empty.
This picture is strangely frightening. It should be familiar. It is our universe.
Even these stars, which seem so numerous, are, as sand, as dust, or less than dust, in the enormity of the space in which there is nothing. Nothing! We are not without empathetic terror when we open Pascal’s Pensées and read, “I am the great silent spaces between worlds.”

• He was a noted skeptic. After an unbiased study, he concluded that there is not enough evidence about any alien activity on Earth, but still for the trash people are- 

• And now it is time to look back at the pale blue dot quote- 

“Ann Druyan suggests an experiment: Look back again at the pale blue dot of the preceding chapter. Take a good long look at it. Stare at the dot for any length of time and then try to convince yourself that God created the whole Universe for one of the 10 million or so species of life that inhabit that speck of dust. Now take it a step further: Imagine that everything was made just for a single shade of that species, or gender, or ethnic or religious subdivision. If this doesn’t strike you as unlikely, pick another dot. Imagine it to be inhabited by a different form of intelligent life. They, too, cherish the notion of a God who has created everything for their benefit. How seriously do you take their claim?” 

• He was a very beautiful thought generator.

• Wish people understand this simple yet insightful message!

• Well that's "true"!

• Cosmic chemistry mixed with spiritual wisdom! My personal favourite

On religious terrorism and the importance of human

• This one shows his humble nature hammering the rude skeptics!

• And this is touching

Care for humanity!

• And what to say anything else for this than simply amazing?!

• With added benefits of well- refraining from pseudoscience, bad science, non-science and nonsense!

Here is a video of him describing astrology as bunk or bogus- His voice is simply touching!

Carl Sagan on astrology

He was indeed a great person, a reformer, brilliant scientist, a noted skeptic and a celebrity. His work for his students, the revolutionary Cosmos series and his amazing books will always be remembered. He is one of the most famous guardian of real science with deep insight and wisdom. 

This post is a second person-specific post. I have earlier written a similar style post for a brilliant philosopher Epicurus. Do check it out.

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Philosophers I love- Epicurus

One who denies philosophy denies life. People with only materialistic understanding and literal senses would never be able to penetrate deep in to the mighty ocean of philosophy weaved through conscious efforts. I hereby decide to share one of the greatest philosophers one by one and their quotes.

His parents, Neocles and Chaerestrate, both Athenian-born, and his father a citizen, had emigrated to the Athenian settlement. He professed the idea of fearless life of wisdom and philosophy. He said that one must not fear things like death and must always pursue methods of true happiness. He started a school of philosophy called  Epicureanism. He suffered from kidney stones which took his life at the age of 72. Here is a very touching para from his Wikipedia page-

"At the time of death despite the prolonged pain involved, he wrote to Idomeneus:

I have written this letter to you on a happy day to me, which is also the last day of my life. For I have been attacked by a painful inability to urinate, and also dysentery, so violent that nothing can be added to the violence of my sufferings. But the cheerfulness of my mind, which comes from the recollection of all my philosophical contemplation, counterbalances all these afflictions. And I beg you to take care of the children of Metrodorus, in a manner worthy of the devotion shown by the young man to me, and to philosophy."

  Only some of his 300 works are remaining. Here are some of his pieces.

NOTE- This list is in no regard to the any religious or cultural beliefs. I do not profess any of them, although one has to disregard their pre conceived notions in order to fully enjoy these treasures.

• I will start by his world famous "bomb". This one is known as Eucredian paradox.

• "What was most important in Epicurus’ philosophy of nature was the overall conviction that our life on this earth comes with no strings attached; that there is no Maker whose puppets we are; that there is no script for us to follow and be constrained by; that it is up to us to discover the real constraints which our own nature imposes on us."

• "Death is nothing to us, because a body that has been dispersed into elements experiences no sensations, and the absence of sensation is nothing to us. Death does not concern us, because as long as we exist, death is not here. And when it does come, we no longer exist."

• "We should look for someone to eat and drink with before looking for something to eat and drink."

• This excerpt proves he was a genius. Note that his time was- 341 BC- 270 BC

“The risings and settings of the sun, the moon, and the other heavenly bodies may come about from the lighting up and quenching of their fires…; for nothing in our sensory experience runs counter to this hypothesis. Or the said effects may be caused by the emergence of these bodies from a point above the earth and again by the earth’s position in front of them; for nothing in our sensory experience is against this.Here two alternative explanations of “risings and settings” are offered; both are of equal value and equally true, since neither is contradicted by anything in our experience. On the contrary, we have all seen fires die down from lack of fuel, and lights obscured or blacked out by objects coming in front of them.”

• You cannot stop smiling if you truly understand the irony- 

“The conquest of fear, especially fear of unaccountable divine beings who meddle in nature at will, means a reduction in the sum total of human pain and suffering and opens the door to the calm acceptance of a new picture of the world—a world in which nature is autonomous and where there are ideal beings who never meddle.” 

• But he wasn't a full Atheist, rather an Agnostic. What I feel that, a true philosopher will disown religion and atheism both because neither of them seems to be fully true. He said what you can see or experience is true if you have tested it and not become skeptic of your own senses.

"If a person fights the clear evidence of his senses he will never be able to share in genuine tranquillity. In other words, a person who doubts his senses will either lose contact with the reality of the surrounding world, like the Skeptics, and become psychologically isolated and insecure, or he will fall prey, as do the religionists, to theological explanations which do not allay anxiety but foment it.”

• LOL!

“The man who says that all events are necessitated has no ground for critizing the man who says that not all events are necessitated. For according to him this is itself a necessitated event."

• This one is his most liked one- 

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.”

• “You don't develop courage by being happy in your relationships everyday. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity"

• “It is folly for a man to pray to the gods for that which he has the power to obtain by himself."

• “If the gods listened to the prayers of men, all humankind would quickly perish since they constantly pray for many evils to befall one another.”

• “He who has peace of mind disturbs neither himself nor another.”

• “He who says either that the time for philosophy has not yet come or that it has passed is like someone who says that the time for happiness has not yet come or that it has passed.”

• “We must, therefore, pursue the things that make for happiness, seeing that when happiness is present, we have everything; but when it is absent, we do everything to possess it.”

• Yeah, this famous sentence was the work of Epicurus- 

“If you wish to make Pythocles rich, do not add to his store of money, but subtract from his desires.”

• "The greater the difficulty, the more the glory in surmounting it.”

• “He who least needs tomorrow, will most gladly greet tomorrow.”

• He took my words!

“The wise man who has become accustomed to necessities knows better how to share with others than how to take from them, so great a treasure of self-sufficiency has he found.”

• “We need to set our affections on one good man and keep him constantly before our eyes, so that we may live as if he were watching us and do everything as if he saw what we were doing.”

• “Therefore, foolish is the man who says that he fears death, not because it will cause pain when it arrives but because anticipation of it is painful.

• “It is not so much our friends' help that helps us as the confident knowledge that they will help us."

 

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