Another New Link

I've added another link, Discontinuation, to the blogroll. You'll find some great quotes here:

http://scratchpad.wikia.com/wiki/Quotes_related_to_Discontinuation

I especially liked this one-

"A coin is turned around before it is handed to the beggar, yet a child is unflinchingly tossed into cosmic bruteness." Peter Wessel Zapffe

Much is made of the fact that most people, when asked, say they're glad to be alive. I'm suspicious of this answer, for a number of reasons which have been outlined in this blog, and elsewhere; not the least of which is the universal concoction of fairytale afterlife vignettes (religion) into which almost all people in the world invest their post-mortal aspirations. Just the fact that there is ALWAYS a negative evaluation of 'here' when compared to 'there' (at least, for those who dedicate themselves to one of these scenarios...a telling feature of dogmatism-by-threat as a tool to reinforce dubious belief systems), exposes our true feelings about the quality of this life. This is why, in my view, religion is ultimately bad. It provides false hope, which translates to bringing future generations into the world. It allows people to assuage their guilt by believing that, some day, their children will live in an eternal paradise, and all the bad stuff in this life will disappear into the dusty footnotes of time long past.

Meanwhile, we suffer, and we die, and in between we produce new food for the monster of existence...

"It is said of the nihilist that ”to him, nothing is sacred”. He might reply that at least he does not sanctify the lie, the common compulsory living-lie; be it expressed as optimism about civilisation or as the falsettos and tightened throats of those who must hide the disconcerting facts to children, so these are not frightened witless even at the outset." - Zapffe