Paul's Aphorisms

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Revision as of 12:29, 31 May 2020 by PaulSank (talk | contribs) (item added)
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This page reveals some bits of "wisdom" that I, Wikidelphia editor Paul, think I have either figured out myself or derived well. In no particular order:

  • He who seeks justice but wreaks vengeance voids his claim.
"Vengeance is Mine. I will repay, says the Lord." If you punish the offender yourself, that's all you get. You deserve no help from any higher authority. Protest organizers who allow vandalism and violence are entitled to have their message completely ignored. They need forcible suppression, not encouragement, and they certainly should not be given even a little of what they want. If you reward vandalism and violence, what do you get? More vandalism and violence!
  • Fear is good until you've done everything you can, for now, about the scary situation.
We had a cancer scare a few years ago. To keep from freaking out, I asked what can we do? Keep all the appointments, comply with all orders and advice, etc, and then when the day's list was all checked, we had less difficulty putting the situation out of our minds until the time came to do something more.
   At my day job in 2020, a week or so before the stay-home order, I allowed fear to drive me toward making the place a bio-secure facility, so to speak. Five days after the order, I'm ensuring the safety of my customers by executing a detailed infection control regimen routinely and courteously. No longer fearful, I'm delighted that I'm still working and with no hours cut. "Money money happy happy!"
  • You can always put more clothes on, but you can only take so many off.
Thus, I have always liked winter better than summer.
  • Put it where you'll probably look for it.
Sometimes this tip comes in handy in deciding where to put something down. Ask, "If I forget where this is, where will I probably look for it first?"
  • Age is not an excuse.
Your age does not excuse you from doing anything. "I'm too old for this," is never true. Something more specific, however, may be true, e.g., "My body is too out of shape for me to do this today."
  • Where there's God's will, there's a way.
For about a decade, after first taking to the airwaves in response to what I believed was a call from God, I produced a radio series about poverty. When the show hit hard times, I said to myself, "Where there's God's will, there's a way", and then I just kept on trying to find whatever that way was. It worked every time. People say, "Where there's a will, there's a way", but circumstances can defeat an individual's self-willed efforts.
  • I am what I am, and that's all.
Labeling oneself is not conducive to maximum happiness. I reject "identity". Labels are useful conveniences for certain kinds of discussion, but when I speak carefully, I don't use them. Examples:
  • Speaking loosely, I'll say, "I'm staff editor for Wikidelphia", but when I speak carefully, I'll say, "I help maintain Wikidelphia". See? I dump the "to be" and replace it with an active verb.
  • I don't say, "____ is part of who I am".
  • I'll never add a "Who We Are" page to any website I build.
  • I refuse to make an "identity" out of my sexual preferences, so I may say, "I have desires for ____," or, "I get hot for ____," but I won't say, "I'm a _____sexual (or an equivalent word)". After all, how much of my time is actually devoted to sexuality? Answer: a small percentage. My life consists of much more than that.
  • Maybe I'd like to say, "I'm a Christian," because I do go to church 'n' all that. But a cautious interpretation of the Bible makes me shy away from identity assertions until I start setting an excellent example.
  • I've never had an identity crisis, whatever that is. I've never anxiously asked myself, "Who am I?" or felt a need to "go find myself".
  • The Sexual Revolution is "the mother of all" social problems.
When I entered adulthood, I decided to make a page of Pro's and Cons about non-marital sex, i.e. fornication. Wanting the truth and to think logically, I was very willing to list items on both sides. When I was done, the Con list had grown way longer than the Pro list. Now that I've had a few decades for further observations and the acquisition of wisdom, I conclude that, like Esau, people have given up much in exchange for little. The rich buy their way out of many of sexual immorality's consequences, while the lower classes suffer them. Billions upon billions of taxpayers', charity donors', and insurance ratepayers' dollars are occupied trying to fix problems perpetuated by the ongoing abandonment of self-control. When the Creator gave us rules about sex, He wasn't being "puritanical" and spoiling our fun; rather, He was setting us up to flourish and prosper.
  • A problem well defined is half solved.
In a college course I learned that systems analysis included an extensive initial phase of investigation. The idea was to go into great detail to define the problem accurately and completely. Only then, when the problem is fully defined, do we proceed to think about design and development. That's when the problem is made ready to solve.