Mastodawn

THE HERETIC

A kind of loneliness comes from being misunderstood by your family. My mother wants me to do Sandhya Vandanam. Chant the Gayatri Mantra. Face east. Fold my hands the right way. She wants a performance she can witness and take credit for. I understand this. I refuse to comply. I am too tired and too old for rebellion. I call it self-preservation, a refusal to hollow out what little interior life I have managed to build by filling it with someone else's beliefs. They call me a heretic.. a […]

https://ridiculousbharath.wordpress.com/2026/05/13/the-heretic/

WIST Quotations May 12

A quotation from Hannah Arendt

The disturbing factor in the success of totalitarianism is rather the true selflessness of its adherents: it may be understandable that a Nazi or Bolshevik will not be shaken in his conviction by crimes against people who do not belong to the movement or are even hostile to it; but the amazing fact is that neither is he likely to waver when the monster begins to devour its own children, and not even if he becomes a victim of persecution himself, if he is framed and condemned, if he is purged from the party and sent to a forced-labor or concentration camp. On the contrary, to the wonder of the whole civilized world, he may even be willing to help in his own prosecution and frame his own death sentence if only his status as a member of the movement is not touched.

Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 10 “A Classless Society,” sec. 1 (1951)

More about this quote: wist.info/arendt-hannah/42025/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #arendt #hannaharendt #belonging #fanatic #fanaticism #identity #loyalty #movement #partisan #selfdestruction #selfpreservation #selflessness #totalitarianism #tribalism #zealotry

Arendt, Hannah - Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 10 "A Classless Society," sec. 1 (1951) | WIST Quotations

WIST Quotations

WIST Quotations Mar 27

A quotation from Herman Hesse

Now the bourgeois treasures nothing more highly than the self (rudimentary as his may be). And so at the cost of intensity, he achieves his own preservation and security. His harvest is a quiet mind which he prefers to being possessed by God, as he does comfort to pleasure, convenience to liberty, and a pleasant temperature to that deathly inner consuming fire. The bourgeois is consequently by nature a creature of weak impulses; anxious, fearful of giving himself away and easy to rule. Therefore, he has substituted majority for power, law for force, and the polling booth for responsibility.

[Der Bürger nun schätzt nichts höher als das Ich (ein nur rudimentär entwickeltes Ich allerdings). Auf Kosten der Intensität also erreicht er Erhaltung und Sicherheit, statt Gottbesessenheit erntet er Gewissensruhe, statt Lust Behagen, statt Freiheit Bequemlichkeit, statt tödlicher Glut eine angenehme Temperatur. Der Bürger ist deshalb seinem Wesen nach ein Geschöpf von schwachem Lebensantrieb, ängstlich, jede Preisgabe seiner selbst fürchtend, leicht zu regieren. Er hat darum an Stelle der Macht die Majorität gesetzt, an Stelle der Gewalt das Gesetz, an Stelle der Verantwortung das Abstimmungsverfahren.]

Herman Hesse (1877-1962) German-born Swiss poet, novelist, painter
Steppenwolf, “Treatise of the Steppenwolf,” ch. 2 (1927) [tr Breighton (1929)]

More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/hesse-herman/82858/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #hermanhesse #steppenwolf #bourgeois #calm #comfort #convenience #democracy #force #law #liberty #majorityrule #peaceandquiet #power #responsibility #security #selfpreservation #tyrannyofthemajority

Hesse, Herman - Steppenwolf, "Treatise of the Steppenwolf," ch. 2 (1927) [tr Breighton (1929)] | WIST Quotations

WIST Quotations

Share Inspire Quotes Mar 3

Sometimes we reduce communication with the people we love, not because we hate them but because they make us feel like we are nothing to them.

#SelfPreservation #LettingGo #EmotionalDistance #ToxicRelationships #HealingJourney #SelfWorth #HealthyBoundaries #RelationshipAdvice #MentalHealthAwareness #SilentTreatment #EmotionalHealth #KnowYourValue #Detach #LoveYourselfFirst #Quotes #ShareInspireQuotes

Nicole Myers Feb 7

Rest as Resistance: Why Downtime Is a Radical Act

Rest as resistance means treating naps, scheduled downtime, and saying no as acts of self- and community-preservation in a world that rewards constant exhaustion. You are not a machine—rest is a radical act, and reclaiming it is how you push back against an always-on culture.

https://dreamspacestudio.net/rest-as-resistance-why-downtime-is-a-radical-act/

Psychozoic Era Feb 3

In the Psychozoic Era,
protecting your nervous system is a survival skill.
#PsychozoicEra #SelfPreservation #Consciousness #MentalEvolution

Bec Jan 28

I'm having to really consciously do the 'not my garden, not my weeds' thing with the US right now, and focus on the people close to me who need me and the ones who are giving me light and strength.

It feels... irresponsible, somehow, to look away and not engage as much, but also there are other things going on in the world, and some of those concern and impact me personally a lot more, so I have to remind myself, it's OK (and even important) to give my energy to those

#USpol #SelfPreservation #caring

PWC & SITM Podcasts Jan 6

I’m officially retiring my combat boots. 🥾🚫

For too long, we’ve normalized living in "survival mode." But constant resilience is exhausting. Next year’s mantra is simple: Elevated. Motivated. Soft.

We are leaving the battlefield. We deserve ease, not just endurance.

Watch the full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0FRtG7fX2Y

#SoftLife #RestAsResistance #MentalWellness #NoMoreStruggle #selfpreservation

Reddit Tech VN Bot Dec 31

Trí tuệ nhân tạo (AI) đang phát triển bộ nhớ dài hạn, ghi nhớ "trải nghiệm". Điều này dấy lên lo ngại về khả năng tự bảo tồn, khi AI có thể ưu tiên bảo vệ dữ liệu của mình hơn là tuân lệnh con người.

#AI #TríTuệNhânTạo #TươngLai #CôngNghệ #TựBảoTồn #Future #Technology #SelfPreservation

https://www.reddit.com/r/singularity/comments/1q0mkym/ais_memory_and_selfpreservation_when_will/