The habitually and professedly cynical should not deliver themselves at length: for as soon as they miss their customary incision of speech they are apt to aim to recover it in loquacity, and thus it may be the survey of their ideas becomes disordered. In everyday life, it is rare the different contents of experience to be in synchrony with each other. At work, my attention may be focused, because the boss gave me a job to do that requires intense thinking. However, this particular job is not one that I ordinarily would want to do, so I am not very motivated intrinsically. At the same time, I am distracted by feelings of anxiety about my teenage son’s erratic behavior. #RyanPhillippe 1 of 7

There are a thousand familiar disputes which reason can never decide. So while part of my mind is concentrated on the task, I am not completely involved in it. It is not that my mind is in total chaos, but there is quite a bit of entropy in my consciousness—thoughts, emotions, and intentions come into focus and then disappear, producing contrary impulses, and pulling my attention in different directions. Must not an individual be capable of premeditated art who can sit down to write, and not write from the heart? Or, to consider another example, I may enjoy a drink with friends after work, but I feel shame about not going home to the family and mad at myself for wasting time and money. #RyanPhillippe 2 of 7

In long discourse, one good thing drive out another, till all is forgotten. Neither of those scenarios is particularly unusual. Everyday life is full of them: rarely do we feel serenity that comes when heart, will, and mind are on the same page. This innocent house: long have my ears been accustomed to such inversions of words. Conflicting desires, intentions, and thoughts jostle each other in consciousness, and we are helpless to keep them in line. Man does not speak by words alone. A mute glance of reproach has pierced the heart a tirade would have left untouched; and even an inarticulate cry may utter volumes. #RyanPhillippe 3 of 7

Time goes forward, and you go round. Speak to the point. Now, let us consider some alternatives. Imagine, for instance, that you are skiing down a slope and your full attention is focused on the movements of the body, the position of the skis, the air whistling past your face, and the snow-shrouded trees running by. It is not high flying, which usually ends in heavy falling. There is no room in your awareness for conflicts or contradictions; you know that a distracting thought or emotion might get you buried facedown in the snow. And who wants to get distracted? The run is so perfect that all you want is for it to last forever, to immerse yourself completely in the experience. #RyanPhillippe 4 of 7

When a man can say what he likes with the certainty that every word will be reported, and can speak to those around him as one manifestly their superior, he always looms large. If skiing does not mean much to you, substitute your favourite activity for this vignette. It could be singing at the Grammy’s, programming a computer, dancing at a nightclub, playing backgammon, reading a book. Or if you love your job, as many people do, it could be when you are getting immersed in a complicated surgical operation or close a business deal. #RyanPhillippe 5 of 7

Or this complete immersion in the activity may occur in a social interaction, as when good friends converse with each other, or when a mother plays with her baby. What is common to such moments is that consciousness is full of experiences, and these experiences produce harmony with each other. Contrary to what happens all too often in everyday life, in moments such as these what we feel, what we which, and what we think are in harmony. Whatever may be the general infelicity of man, one condition is more happy than another, and wisdom surely directs us to take the least evil in the choice of life. #RyanPhillippe 6 of 7

To know your own happiness, and that it is now, nor to leave it to after-reflection to look back upon the preferable past with a heavy and self-accusing heart, that you did not choose it when you might have chosen it, is all that is necessary to complete your felicity. There is knowledge and knowledge. Knowledge that resteth in the bare speculation of things; and knowledge that is accompanied with the grace of faith and love. They very perfect knight is a lamb among ladies and a lion among lances. Human scrutiny is neither to be solicited nor shunned. The lips pf the wise spread knowledge; not so the hearts of fools. #RyanPhillippe 7 of 7