1. To be eaten alive with a smile on your face. That's the power of positive thinking.
2. While digging in his backyard, he uncovered a dagger. He was later told it was 5,000 years old. "Put that in a museum! It's a relic from our past; it deserves to be remembered," he was told. He smiled and thought they were correct. After all, this object is faceless and mindless—hallmarks of meaning.
3. I don't know what the greater fear is—that everyone around me is insane or that everyone around me is sane, but I am deranged. In the end, does it matter? Both realities are hell for me.
4. A man's vice has always been more interesting than his virtue. The latter is worn, proudly, where all can see. The former is a flickering light from underneath a closed door.
5. Boredom should be the telos of existence. Instead, God throws the slothful into the pits of Hell. Is He punishing sinners, or is He hiding His failures?
6. The barbarians pour through the gates to maim and murder. The streets fill with blood, and all the city's riches are stolen. This transfer of wealth will be devoured by a tyrant who will beget aristocrats. They will form institutions of higher learning and create new works of art. But that's another day. Right now, my nostrils are filled with a putrid smell. The smell of progress.
7. The ethos of war is rooted in optimism, with an aim towards improving one's lot at the expense of another. This we call happiness. Pessimism, in contrast, accepts that unhappiness is mankind's natural state. We call this resignation or put another way, peace.
