Category Archives: Quotes - Page 2

The Enemy on The Desk

Posted by on July 22, 2007 1 comment

It’s interesting to watch the approach of some folk to technology. There seems to me to be a view that technology is the enemy, there is a negative view of tech. Speaking as an IT guy, I couldn’t disagree more. When dealing with recalcitrant, misbehaving tech, the key is to remember that it’s nothing personal. Getting all wound up won’t help, sometimes it can be like opening a stubborn lock, you have to know how to jiggle it, I’ve started to think that it might be an ego issue on the operator’s part. I include myself in that, of course.

I always try to bear in mind that computers and technology are as much a part of Tao as everything else.

To misquote Pirsig, “Tao rests as easily at the heart of cyberspace as it does in the heart of a forest. To think otherwise is to demean Tao”

The eye of the beholder.

Posted by on July 14, 2007 1 comment

I’ve suffered from a bit of writers block for the last few days.  I finally remembered a quote from Bono in the book “Bono on Bono”; “Why don’t you write about that?”, good question, I thought.  Here we go….

It’s interesting to actually look at writers block, it’s not the first time I’ve suffered it, but it’s the first time I’ve looked at it like this.  It’s a pain in the neck for sure, but I think it’s also a wake up call to go and take a break for a while and recharge, so it’s nature can change a lot depending on how you look at it.

So many things are like this, the veneer we drop on the world according to our tastes and cultural background can blind us to the possibilities and in some cases make things a lot more difficult than they need to be.  If we’re not very careful we can do ourselves in.  The fun starts when you realise it’s optional, and you are the final arbiter and authority of how the world looks, it’s all in the eye of the beholder.

Whaddya know?  It worked, kudos to you Bono……

Violence / Non-Violence

Posted by on January 23, 2007 3 comments

I came across this quote on the subject of violence and non-violence, I’d never thought of it like this before being focussed more on the physical side, I thought I’d share this quote as I found it very insightful.

“What is violence and what is non-violence? We can’t make a clear
demarcation between violence and non-violence on a superficial basis, since
it is related with motivation. Out of sincere motivation, certain
verbal actions, as well as physical actions, may look more wrathful, more
violent, harsher, but in essence, because these activities come out of a
sincere motivation of compassion, or sense of caring, they are
essentially non-violent. On the other hand, with negative motivation, try to
cheat, trying to exploit, trying to deceive, and using nice
words-although with a big artificial smile and with a gift- might look like a
friendly gesture, but because of the motivation, it is the worst kind of
violence. So I feel that in certain cases violence can be said to be a
manifestation or expression of compassion. Nevertheless, non-violence is
the basic expression of compassion, therefore, the concepts of
non-violence and compassion are very, very close.”
– His Holiness the Dalai Lama