The Experience of Clarity

Matt Berry, The Mechanics of Virtue A Human Strategy ** The Mechanics of Virtue ** Post-Atheism

A Human Strategy ** The Mechanics of Virtue ** Post-Atheism

48 We give more attention to what we want than to the fact that we want.   The object of our desire is often a dispensable conduit.  The human spirit appears fickle.  It will have an enemy, but only as long as this is not its rival’s enemy – in which case, enmity itself can become “evil,” if in holding to the moral position it can imagine itself at a superior rank.  We will gratify our enmity, declaring war in the name of Justice and in the next breath condemn a rival’s enmity in the name of Peace and Compassion.  The human spirit appears fickle; however, we are quite consistent as dispensing machines. A Human Strategy ** The Mechanics of Virtue ** Post-Atheism

204 In the end, it is my strength ... not my words, not my badges, not my reputation ... but my strength that holds my head up. A Human Strategy ** The Mechanics of Virtue ** Post-Atheism

49 Self-love is not always the same as self-advantage and this is the fault of self-love. A Human Strategy ** The Mechanics of Virtue ** Post-Atheism

205 Does object A rise or fall?  But one must have first secured a point of reference before one can even pose the question.  And in case it has not already become obvious to the reader, the point of reference I propose is increasing strength .  Until one secures that point of reference, object A may not even appear to move at all. A Human Strategy ** The Mechanics of Virtue ** Post-Atheism

50 Our moral expression is often only a label we use to hide our fear of breaking with a custom , herd , or rank .  A Human Strategy ** The Mechanics of Virtue ** Post-Atheism

A Human Strategy, Matt Berry, aphorism 207 A Human Strategy ** The Mechanics of Virtue ** Post-Atheism

206 What has accounted for our “strength” thus far?  That tremendous force we spent on the preservation of our weaknesses. A Human Strategy ** The Mechanics of Virtue ** Post-Atheism

51 If one is too big for the shop’s door, one must stoop to submit an application.  If one is small enough for the shop, one can enter with one’s head high. A Human Strategy ** The Mechanics of Virtue ** Post-Atheism

207 Do not give me painkillers.  True, I also want my existence alleviated ... but I will do so by growing stronger ... by bearing the weight of my reality. A Human Strategy ** The Mechanics of Virtue ** Post-Atheism

52 Is it megalomania if one knows that vanity is an indispensable part in the human machine?  For if one takes delusion out of the equation, one no longer has the rational claim to megalomania.  If one however uses this argument as proof that the definition no longer applies to oneself, the machine has only re-introduced the delusion.  A Human Strategy ** The Mechanics of Virtue ** Post-Atheism

208 The highest personal law of life: to achieve a higher rank.  Survival is our lowest law, but it remains: though it is very difficult to think of survival as life, even this lowest of laws still increases me.   A Human Strategy ** The Mechanics of Virtue ** Post-Atheism