from Life of Pi

some of the wisdom of Yann Martel, from his book Life of Pi,

"All living things contain a measure of madness that moves them in strange, sometimes inexplicable ways. This madness can be saving; it is part and parcel of the ability to adapt. Without it, no species would survive."

(That first nugget reminds the Clarion of the brilliant, under-read, under-utilized Gavin De Becker book, The Gift of Fear.)

More from the Life of Pi,

"People move because of the wear and tear of anxiety. Because of the gnawing feeling that no matter how hard they work their efforts will yield nothing, that what they build up in one year will be torn down in one day by others. Because of the impression that the future is blocked up, that they might do all right but not their children. Because of the feeling that nothing will change, that happiness and prosperity are possible only somewhere else."

"I must say a word about fear. It is life's only true opponent."

(This third one goes on for four more insightful paragraphs.)

The book is well worth the read. Yes, we know, everyone else read it years ago.

Before there were X-gamers

It was a different time. It was before the cost of liability insurance had been driven through the roof by a lawsuit mad culture. It was before cable TV, let alone the internet. It was before Super Dave Osborne, let alone Tony Hawk.


Behold Evil Kneivel




Daredevil for real

Cat power

An Arizona cat survived a 70 mile trip under a pick-up truck, sitting on a spare tire yesterday. Bella traveled shaken but uninjured from Gilbert, AZ (upper left of map) to Kearny, AZ (right center edge.)

A look at the photo in this article suggests the cat may be smarter than the owner.

Pithy F*rging Sayings (8th ed.)

"Familiarity almost inevitably breeds indifference." ---Marc Bloch

"Aging comes at you like the tide. It only feels like waves because of the way humans measure time; birthdays, anniversaries, seasons."---staff

"An attempt to rest political equality on religious truth is simply a recipe for social disaster and political failure." ---Andrew Sullivan

"He hungered to explain who he was...an orphan boy...who had been poor all his life, had grubbed for a living, and was poor in other ways too- if he was that one what was he doing in prison? Who were they punishing if his life was punishment?"---Bernard Malamud in The Fixer

"Sometimes things that go without saying should go unsaid."---staff

"Never think that wars are irrational catastrophes: they happen when wrong ways of thinking and living bring about intolerable situations."---Dorothy L. Sayers

"Bad data is a far worse problem than no data."---staff

"It is...chimerical to build peace on the economic foundations which, in turn, rest on the systematic cultivation of greed and envy, the very forces which drive men into conflict."---E.F. Schumacher

Link to other Clarion sayings posts.