All War is a Tragedy

1.

If the whole world -- that’s excluding those in power -- for just one day, sat down in meditative thought and refused to work until all the world’s armies were dismantled, we could live in peace.

2.

Humans don’t want war -- only those in power desire a squabble; humans merely want to enjoy themselves in peace and live until they’re old.

3.

A country’s land and wealth mean nothing to us when we die -- our only value is life.

4.

How do soldiers not see that they’re not fighting an evil government, but killing innocent people like themselves, people who think they’re doing right?  They’re not destroying the cause -- only strengthening the effect.

5.

Retaliating is an easy way out; it requires no patience or thought.  It may be a quick fix, but in the end, it teaches us only hatred.

6.

The thought of Koreans blowing up Koreans saddens me; but is it different from Americans shooting Iraqis, or Israelis killing Palestinians?  No.  We are all human beings -- all war is a tragedy.

7.

Is it right for kids to bow to their elders?  Is it right for elders to physically punish kids?  I think not.  All it does is plant a negative seed of thought, one where there is always someone ‘above’ you whom you must heed unconditionally or be punished.  Then, when politicians decide on a war, it’s always those taught to obey the man above them that run to the slaughter.

8.

The more possessions we have, the more worry we have, and the more we are bound to lose.

9.

Boys and girls grow up seeing the ‘so-called’ celebrities on television with their slim bodies, plastic surgery, and shiny clothes.  They obsess about their own figure, their own face, and their own clothes.  They grow up always trying to be like everyone else, instead of trying to be their own self.  It brings on unneeded  stress and concern.  We must teach them that none of that matters; when you die, you lose everything!

10.

One who clocks in, clocks out, goes home, and turns on the television is not living their own life -- they are living someone else’s life.

11.

It’s always the final tug of the lid that shakes the container and splashes you with liquid.  You can pull it off, centimeter by centimeter, with smoothness and ease; but then, when you reach the last millimeter, it sticks, forcing you to yank harder.  And voilà! you spray yourself and, if you have friends, the people around you.

12.

Peace: it seems so simple and attainable, like a child swinging on a swing set or a monk meditating in a monastery, but it’s not; it is involved in all of our actions, yet continues to be the single most elusive ideal in the lives of human beings.

13.

Would it not be more pleasant to sit in a dark room surrounded by walls than to bask in the ‘so-called’ light of today, which only burns you and brings you pain?

14.

If the point to life is to go to college, start a career, work, marry, have kids, grow old, and die, we all should just skip to the Epilogue, for the chapters in the middle have already been read by billions before us.

15.

The more we organize the world, the more chaotic it becomes; the more we build, the more we knock down. 

16.

Life is like one big play. It is not until we take off our costumes and rest that we come to be real and human.