But the biggest clue seemed to be their expressions. They were hard to explain. Good-natured, friendly, easygoing...and uninvolved. They were like spectators. You had the feeling they had just wandered in there themselves and somebody had handed them a wrench. There was no identification with the job. No saying, "I am a mechanic." At 5 P.M. or whenever their eight hours were in, you knew they would cut it off and not have another thought about their work. They were already trying not to have any thoughts about their work on the job.
What was behind this smug presumption that what pleased you was bad or at least unimportant in comparison to other things? _ Little children were trained not to do __ust what they liked_ but _ but what? _ Of course! What others liked. And which others? Parents, teachers, supervisors, policemen, judges, officials, kings, dictators. All authorities.When you are trained to despise __ust what you like_ then, of course, you become a much more obedient servant of others _ a good slave. When you learn not to do __ust what you like_ then the System loves you.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values
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What was behind this smug presumption that what pleased you was bad or at least unimportant in comparison to other things? _ Little children were trained not to do __ust what they liked_ but _ but what? _ Of course! What others liked. And which others? Parents, teachers, supervisors, policemen, judges, officials, kings, dictators. All authorities.When you are trained to despise __ust what you like_ then, of course, you become a much more obedient servant of others _ a good slave. When you learn not to do __ust what you like_ then the System loves you.
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What is in mind is a sort of Chautauqua...that__ the only name I can think of for it...like the traveling tent-show Chautauquas that used to move across America, this America, the one that we are now in, an old-time series of popular talks intended to edify and entertain, improve the mind and bring culture and enlightenment to the ears and thoughts of the hearer. The Chautauquas were pushed aside by faster-paced radio, movies and TV, and it seems to me the change was not entirely an improvement. Perhaps because of these changes the stream of national consciousness moves faster now, and is broader, but it seems to run less deep. The old channels cannot contain it and in its search for new ones there seems to be growing havoc and destruction along its banks. In this Chautauqua I would like not to cut any new channels of consciousness but simply dig deeper into old ones that have become silted in with the debris of thoughts grown stale and platitudes too often repeated.
Oh no. I'm not gonna let you leave yet. I'm gonna show you the value of takin' your time to get to work. I probably should have done this a long time ago.
People spend their entire lives at those lower altitudes without any awareness that this high country exists.
She was strangely unaware that she could look and see freshly for herself, as she wrote, without primary regard for what had been said before.
In order for one to be converted to the 'dark' side he/she must have a complete understanding of the 'light' side. With it's understanding we would all want to defy, overpower, or destroy what it is capable of.