Autobiography of a Restless Mind is a fascinating, exceptionally diverse collection of observations and reflections written over the past twenty-five years by one of the most innovative thinkers, writers, and leaders of the past half century. Witty and wise, playful and profound, prophetic and immensely quotable, it is a companion no thinking, caring person should be without. Written in an unforgettable style reminiscent of Aurelius, Montaigne, Lao-Tse, and Bacon, it is a classic that will be read with pleasure and profit for generations to come.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY of a RESTLESS MIND

Reflection on the Human ConditionBy Dee Hock

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2012 Dee Hock
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-6655-8

Chapter One

1

If you cornered the market on truth, you'd make a scant living selling it.

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2

Happiness may be difficult, but it is simple. If you would be happy, dismiss desire, discard opinion, honor the past, trust the future, and treasure the moment.

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3

Like fishermen, we constantly cast the lure of expectation ahead of us hoping to hook a desired piece of the future. Something unimaginable always takes the bait.

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4

Flattery may be despicable, but it will never fetch you a punch on the nose.

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5

There is no greater gift than to speak and write that which is useful to your own heart.

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6

Reading academic prose is like trying to slake your thirst with a mud flow. There's moisture there, but getting at it is the rub.

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7

Expecting to achieve all that we demand of ourselves is a love affair with disappointment.

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8

If we would drive the harlot "more" from our bed and take "enough" to spouse, we could create a world fit for humanity and live in it as happily as a flea in the show ring of the kennel club.

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9

The mass of people sense loss of control of their lives. They intuit the decline of community. They feel the growing emptiness of life. They perceive the earth around them dying. Their anxieties grow. Those who have most benefitted from the present order of things–the rich and powerful–they too know ... they know, they know! In our collective consciousness lies the problem. In our collective conscience lies the solution. It is in consciousness and conscience that the essential change must occur.

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10

One should not read like a dog obeying its master, but like an eagle hunting its prey.

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11

Academia has an incurable compulsion to explain that which is simple with something complex, that which is direct with something labyrinthine, that which is intuitive with something verbose, and that which is obvious with something obtuse.

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12

In the soil of every satisfaction sprouts the seed of discontent.

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13

Humility and generosity have no enemies.

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14

Each of us is inseparable from the whole of the universe and affects it whether we wish to or not. We may use that power as we choose. Therein lies the meaning of life.

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15

No one wants justice universally applied. Life would to punitive for even the best of us if our every word and deed resulted in immediate justice.

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16

Every mountain is two mountains: the one that urges us to climb, and the one that punishes us when we do.

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17

It is difficult to stand quietly and admire the heavens when you have a thorn in your foot.

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18

It is not genius to express the simple profoundly, but rather to express the profound simply. It is not poetry to express the beautiful simply, but rather to express the simple beautifully.

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19

The appetite of the wolf is the death of the rabbit. Look not to the rich and powerful for succor or justice.

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20

A fool is no less a fool when a wise man errs.

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21

Society will not progress until we cease endless discourse about right ideas and consider right values. It is not the mind of society that is weak; it is the soul.

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22

All life arises and renews itself in opposition to the laws of entropy.

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23

Where is the "away" into which we throw our billions of tons of toxic waste? Through the closed systems of nature, the "away" is our own liver, spleen, blood, bone, and brain!

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24

Old truth hates nothing so much as new truth that contradicts it.

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25

Old age is perpetually too backward, and youth is too forward. Moderate, middle-aged people are trapped between, usually as parents.

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26

The pleasures of youth are the pains of old age, just as the pleasures of old age are the pains of youth.

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27

Powerful writing should take one side and stick to it tenaciously, ignoring the other even though it may have merit. Objective writing is impotent.

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28

Liberty without responsibility is like fire without a stove.

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29

Money is the symbol of man's confidence in the universality of avarice.

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30

Why prepare for death? Everyone seems able to do it the first time around.

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31

As my grandfather used to say, "There's them as talks and them as does, and them as does gives them as talks a passel to natter about."

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32

There is little to be said for growing old, except that there is no other way to have a long life.

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33

If you never test your courage and strength, how can you measure the validity of your fears?

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34

Most books are written not for readers but to scratch a writer's itch for money, fame, and immortality.

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35

Commercial propaganda reminds one of a polar bear explaining to a seal why it is so desirable that it should be eaten.

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36

Can anyone imagine human existence without the idea of love, or the love of ideas?

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37

Condemnation debases the condemner far more than the condemned.

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38

Criticism would pursue and destroy quality were it not so nearsighted, sore of foot, and asthmatic.

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39

Do not get angry, stubborn, and imperious. Get curious.

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40

He is such an inveterate businessman that he treats love as stock in the object of his affection.

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41

It's much easier to forgive an enemy than a friend.

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42

I am much too busy learning to have any desire to teach.

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43

Knowledge devoid of nobility, beauty, and wisdom is a barren, wearisome thing.

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44

Life began in defiance of the scientific "laws of nature." It does not care a fig for entropy or gravity, else no young would ever be born, and birds would be sucked to the center of the earth.

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45

This day brought health, moderation, someone to love, work to be done, and a clear sky under which to do it all. What more could anyone want?

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46

Much that cannot be calculated is true. Much that can be calculated is false. Nothing that can be calculated is beauty.

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47

It is a tiny mind that worships measurement and submits to being circumscribed by it.

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48

It is a grave mistake to think that small acts of compassion and generosity cannot change the world for the better, since they are the only things that ever have.

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49

Books, like nature, never praise, never condemn, and never ignore me. I love them as much for that as for the edification and pleasure they bring.

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50

People who set out to rule are never free. They are forever chained to the mob, whether it be rebellious or subservient.

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51

That which is rising looks only ahead; that which is declining looks only behind.

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52

The essential reward of anything well done is to have done it. Everything else is surfeit.

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53

The fundamental law of unbridled capitalism is that the poor shall plow, the middle class shall plant, and the rich shall reap.

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54

What is known is worthless until it is shared.

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55

Truth, nature, and beauty are a trinity among which no meaningful distinction...