A day

A day spent by the soul in lamenting the death of the rights of the poor man and in weeping for the loss of justice is nobler than the age lost by a man in enjoyment of his appetite.

Kahlil Gibran

What you can have for money

For money you can have everything it is said. - No that is not true. You can buy food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; soft beds, but not sleep; knowledge but not intelligence; glitter, but not comfort; fun, but not pleasure; acquaintances, but not friendship; servants, but not faithfulness; grey hair, but not honour; quiet days, but not peace. The shell of all things you can get for money. But not the kernel. That cannot be had for money.

Arne Garborg

Reasons for sadness in the contemporary society

Have a look at the society we live in; see how mediocrity and stupidity are everywhere - if you don’t believe that, just turn on the TV and you will see idolized people that are only capable of screaming into a microphone and even someone who can cook becoming a “star”, but not someone that can really give something to this society, that would probably be too dangerous for those who are in control.
All they want is to let people swim in their little pond of objects and fake happiness. Very few dare to talk about ideas, real books, and real art. If it’s not commercial, this means if it’s not a product, its nothing! But a product is made to be consumed, while art and ideas are made for your soul. Even religion has become a product – if you don’t believe that, turn on your TV again.
Fact is that in this society of madness we tend to forget who we really are: Angels with one wing, souls that resonates to a higher music, beings whose destiny is bigger than their understanding. We desperately need a new humanism. Until we will not go back to our humanity, we will not discover our nobility and businessmen will believe that they are the ultimate kings of this world.

Sergio Caldarella

Moral cowardice

"Moral cowardice that keeps us from speaking our minds is as dangerous to this country as irresponsible talk. The right way is not always the popular and easy way. Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character."
(Margaret Chase Smith)

Seems that the society of money and greed force men and women to leave their humanity at the entrance: if they want to enter through the "golden gates", they have to leave their human values at the door and join the ranks of the wolves. The antidote to that was given long time ago by the German philosopher Karl Marx who wrote: «Assume man to be man and his relationship to the world to be a human one: then you can exchange love only for love, trust for trust».
(Sergio Caldarella)

The "others"

In 1916, in the middle of the First World War, John Middleton Murry, inspired by the writings of Leon Shestov, wrote in his introduction to Anton Chekhov and other essays that the modern man needs to «learn honesty again: (…) the honesty that cries aloud in instant and passionate anger against the lie and the half truth, and by an instinct knows the authentic thrill of contact with the living human soul». This also means that even the opposite is valid: in the society of power and greed there are “others,” that do not feel they need to learn honesty, those who believe that to be in power automatically means to be right, those who can consider true only what is believed by the many. In the blink of an eye “those people” immediately recognize the person that lives in the honesty that Middleton Murry invokes and by instinct they are immediately prone to reject and exclude who is different from them. If there is a major fault in the society of power and greed is that it tends to push forward the individuals with less values. The more selfish and humanly poor you are, the bigger are your opportunities to climb on the social ladder. Well, the result of this setting-out was well described in a few lines by the Roman historian Tacitus when he wrote: ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant, and where they make a desert, they call it peace.

Sergio Caldarella

Orcs and Trolls

«But Orcs and Trolls spoke as they would, without love of words or things; and their language was actually more degraded and filthy than I have shown it. (...) Much the same sort of talk can still be heard among the orc-minded; dreary and repetitive with hatred and contempt, too long removed from good to retain even verbal vigour, save in the ears of those to whom only the squalid sounds strong» (From: J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F)