As a philosopher, I do a lot of thinking. This page contains my life philosophies, and hopefully, I can be a source of peace and enlightenment for someone else, and at times amusing.
Chris Aldridge.
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Sometimes you may find yourself defending the rights of people who wouldn't defend yours, but that's how you become American.
If you want to hear Death laugh, tell Him how rich you are.
Truth is not for people who want big circles of friends.
It's very easy for a nation to become fascist, but nearly impossible to undo once you realize what you've done.
The Gods never charge us money for the things we need. Greed and exploitation have always been human constructs.
Men are strong because our women make us strong.
You show American patriotism by fighting for the oppressed and powerless.
Sometimes in order to find out who you are, you have to experience who you are not.
The Hero does things that the common man or woman is either unable or unwilling to do.
What is good and evil? Simply put, the Gods and the lack thereof.
I survived the end of the world so many times I realized that negative media is just there to rob me of my happiness.
Life threw its greatest challenges at Odysseus, but the challenges also brought Him to see many beautiful things and gain much wisdom that would have not been possible otherwise.
Each morning when you wake up, have a love for life and a heart grateful to the Gods.
Nature is the Gods showing us how beautiful they are, and also who is in charge.
Ancestry is beyond your doing. If all someone has to offer to the Gods is Greek blood, they don't have much to offer since they had no choice in the matter.
Life, perhaps, isn't about who is advantaged and disadvantaged, but rather all of us helping each other.
Science has never attacked my belief in the Gods, it's only confirmed and strengthened it.
Atheism believes that a braindead universe and a braindead earth just happens to all flow insync and accidentally creates all conditions for life, and if you believe that such things cannot happen without intelligence, you're foolish. But which belief is really the more absurd?
There are only two things that last forever: the Gods and taxes. Nothing that has ever troubled me in life has been of any consequence a year later, or even a month later. The nature of the universe is to change. All things must pass.
Always allow the goodness of the Gods to shine through you. You'll make the world a better place.
Moderation is about finding a healthy balance, to neither starve or overindulge, for both are equally destructive.
Each day is not just a gift, but a privilege, to be able to know and love the Gods.
Ears that spurn will the hard way learn.
Hellenism is not only defined by how we worship, but by how we treat other people.
If my neighbor's rights are not protected, neither are mine.
The Constitution shackles the government for a reason. Government is the greatest domestic threat to liberty.
There are no easy roads to the things you want in life, but the Gods will give you a chariot.
You will never end crime until you end poverty.
I've noticed that people who have a lot to say about others, haven't done much with their own lives.
I would rather live and die free than a slave, even if the chains gave me security and promises.
When you're honest with yourself and others, you never have to worry about negative consequences.
Love will free you. It will not shackle you. If it shackles you, it's not love.
The world indeed has many dangers and many risks, but to allow that simple factor to stop me from living, means I might as well already be dead.
People tend to support tyranny more than freedom, because the hatred they have for others drowns their senses.
Fascists are predators and freedom is prey. If you ever leave it unguarded, it will be eaten.
Don't try to be like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, or anyone. Try to be like yourself.
To pretend to be something you're not is the greatest of all betrayals.
When we learn that America is for everyone, and that there's no one to "take it back" from, America will have finally succeeded in her experiment.
Take walks whenever you can. If the weather is cold, you'll be thankful for your car. If the weather is nice, you'll become a polytheist.
A man's sex drive begins at about age 16. But when he reaches 40, he becomes a philosopher.
Nothing has been harder to hold together than the American States. We've always been a divided nation, and it's always been over whether someone is a human being. Whether it was over slavery, sexism, segregation, homophobia or transphobia, our civil wars and conflicts have always been between a side that respects the humanity of everyone, and a side who only respects the humanity of some. If we are to ever rid ourselves of civil strife, we must rid ourselves of hate and ignorance now and forever.
Life can certainly be very hard, sometimes maddening, but I have found that the Gods are the joy that we can always experience.
I've seen enough death to know that it takes about a day for everyone to forget you. That's why I live each day not caring what they think, but rather, what my own happiness means to me.
Young people are so certain they're living the life they want, and old people are so certain they never did.
On your deathbed, you will regret all the things you never did.
The more you simplify your worldview, the more you will fear things.
We've had charities for decades and yet poverty remains the same. Because charities do nothing to actually address the problem. Until we go in and actually rebuild neighborhoods, relieve debts, and feed and educate people, it's all just for show.
Always allow a complete examination before making any conclusions. Things usually aren't as bad as you initially think.
The worst thing you can do in life is see yourself as a victim. And sometimes it can be really hard not to, but abandoning victimhood is how you beat it. It's how you win.
Only the Gods own the Earth. Live by this ideal, and you will always have a safe and clean place to call home.
If you want proof that humanity has declined since leaving their ancient religions, just look at how they have no respect or sense of sacredness for anything anymore.
Humans must never think of themselves as Gods, nor manipulate things which only the Gods govern. The price is self-destruction.
Do not compare yourself to Gods, that is too high for a mortal.
A good priest or priestess prays and sacrifices for others more than they do for themselves.
As a Hellenist, things like race, gender, orientation or class do not occur to me. Poseidon would let us all drink from His river.
If you don't let your grief blind you, the Gods will give you peace, healing and purpose in every tragedy.
You cannot straddle a fence between devotee and defacer. You either respect the Gods or you don't.
No matter who you are, you're never immune to the possibility of prejudice. You have to make a conscious effort to always examine yourself, and be educated and open minded about the world.
Always love the Gods and each other, because in the end, there is nothing else.
Be yourself, because that's good enough.
Think about all the reasons you can instead of all the reasons you can't.
I've gotten to the point that the kind of day doesn't bother me. I see each one as an amazing privilege to be alive, to know the Gods, and experience what it all has in store for me.
The rich control everything for only one reason. It's rare to find someone who won't sell out for the right price.
Slavery can actually be very appealing, because the chains will offer you security and protection. All you have to do is give up your liberty. But I only bow to one set of masters, and they are not human, and I only work for one man, and that's myself. I would rather die free than a slave.
Everyone makes mistakes. But when you become so full of arrogance and self-righteousness that you cannot admit to it, that's when you become most wretched.
Virtue is found in honor only for the sake of honor, and right only for the sake of right.
The only things that are impossible are the ones you believe to be.
Nature is the Gods showing us how beautiful they are, and giving us the privilege of living in that beauty.
If you want a life that's best, then make the best out of life. Success is taking the things life has given you and making them as successful as you can.
All I know about my house is that it's here, and was there when I was born. I cannot prove who built it beyond records that someone else wrote and stories that someone else tells. Yet, my common sense tells me that the sophistication of the house indicates that intelligence built it, that it couldn't have accidentally formed this way.
An atheist looks at a beautifully colored bird and says that the bird evolved that way because it needed to attract mates. But they never ask themselves how evolution knew that such needed to happen. You cannot, in one breath, say that everything is an accident, and in the next breath say that things happened for a reason.
It was never a Hellenic or Pagan value to hate your country.
There will always be a million things that could go wrong, but focusing on those possibilities will cause you to miss the blessings the Gods give.
The Gods are ultimately beyond human comprehension. What we see, experience and understand only cover what humans are slightly able to.
The definition of perfection is not known by any human, no matter how intelligent. No one can look up into the sky and tell me which cloud is perfect and which one isn't, or even why it matters.
As Plato said, science is simply another perception. If humans had 4 arms, then someone born with 2 would be called deformed.
Honor is the most important of all virtues. Without it, you'll do anything under the right circumstances. Without honor, you become wretched.
Many people will see you in many ways. But what's most important is how you see yourself.
I have chosen love, compersion and confidence. Hate, jealousy and insecurity are far too destructive to carry.
No human being can be owned by another, in any way or under any circumstances. Our nature is freedom.
Men don't need women, some say. Women don't need men, others say. When we realize that neither is right, we will have reached enlightenment. Until then, we remain children.
Socrates really only had one concrete message: Think for yourself.
There's beauty in everything if you have the right eyes.
The problem with modern scientists is that they've evolved from students of truth into people who consider themselves gods, answerable to no one and reverent of nothing except their own hubris.
I can only speak through my own lifelong observations. But it has seemed to me that the less spiritual a society becomes, the more immoral and hopeless they become.
Hubris is not defined by telling the truth. If you can lift 500 pounds, it's not arrogant to say that you can lift 500 pounds. The hubris is the presumption that because of said fact, you are more than what you are, or somehow better than everyone else.
A Greek temple is not just a place for prayer and sacrifice. It's a refuge where humanity can feel safe and enlightened.
Don't try to fight negative thoughts, because you'll lose. Instead realize that everyone has them, and ignore them. It is not thought but action that determines you.
A Hellenist believes in Gods of peace, but we also wears armor, because we understand that there comes a time for each.
America, like Athena, should prefer peace, but always be ready to throw down and obliterate the enemy.
Concerning our own courses of action, it can be largely a red herring to argue what Gods do or have done. We are not Gods. Therefore, it is not our place or right to play Gods.
The fascist will always been the one trying to divide us and create exclusivity. Because fascism cannot conquer a unified nation.
The ideal of a free people, of a Democracy and a Republic, came from the Ancient Greeks and Romans. It did not come from Abrahamic society because they have never ruled without authoritarianism or totalitarianism, and it did not come from atheists because there has never been such a society in the world. The ancient Gods, cultures and people take us to the peaks of the human summits, and the best of the human experience.
Don't spend your life trying to be or look like someone else, because it's not going to happen. Try to be just like yourself and make that the most beautiful version possible, because life is supposed to be diverse, not all the same.
People say you can't force yourself to be something you're not. Oh no, you can. You can force yourself to do anything. But whether you'll be happy is another story. Either with yourself or others, you'll always be fighting, struggling and loathing.
Life most certainly has its hardships, but I cannot imagine how miserable someone must be to think that life is pain. Most of it is actually a very beautiful and pleasurable experience, if you're living the way you want instead of how others demand. Otherwise you'll always be unhappy, sad, miserable and loathing. So the pain does not come from life. The pain comes from not living.
I am a polyamorist, not a polygamist, because like monogamy, polygamy fails to grasp the reality that no human being can be owned by another. Therefore, it's just as destructive as any other controlling monogamous union.
I think most of human conflict is a result of not having respect for one another. That's when we turn to hate, confrontation, and conquest over others.
One of the biggest lies humans have ever accepted is that romantic love must remain singular, exclusive and selfish. I am married to the love of my life, and also not ashamed to admit that I still love most of the women I've been with, because love is not finite. It's an amazingly vast and beautiful human experience.
We are taught that every kind of love, except romantic, can be plural. You can legitimately love all of your friends, family, coworkers and/or team members. But you can only affectionately love one person otherwise it's not real love. Nonsense.
The scientist is knowledgeable, the spiritualist is wise.
It's a crying shame that most people in my time will never experience how vast and beautiful human love can be, simply because they are too scared.
Atheists normally like to presume an ethical high ground to religious people. They like to talk a lot about what it means to be just, moral and virtuous. Atheists also believe that life is one big accident and nothing matters because we're all going to eventually cease to exist completely anyway. But deep down, not a single atheist really believes the latter, otherwise there wouldn't be any logical reason for them to care about anything in the former. If they really believed in survival of the fittest, why care about anyone or anything except themselves?
You cannot be something that your brain will not allow. Two constantly opposing forces cannot exist productively and happily.
Is it logical or scientific to believe in miracles? Absolutely. Because it's a miracle that any of us are even here in the first place. I had a 1 in 60 million chance and I made it, then I survived the dangers of being in a womb for 9 months. Miracles are real because the man who believes in them, made it here to tell you about them. When he just as easily could have failed.
The most dangerous fascist is the one who isn't an idiot, who is skillful in their lies and propaganda, and knows the art of evasive legislation.
I am not democrat. I am not republican. My party is the Constitution and the Declaration. My views are as follows: If it frees and helps people, I am for it; if it oppresses and harms people, I am against it. And I don't need a party to tell me that's the most American ideal.
For most of human history, infant mortality was a serious problem, and yet, our population kept increasing. Why? Because that's how much we love sex, and you think we got to where we are through monogamy? Our love for sex and the variety therein has literally kept us from extinction.
Of course love is real. It's just that most people never find it, because they are too focused on all the things that do not define love.
If you're afraid of losing, you'll never win, because you'll never try. Fear will beat you every single time.
One person shouldn't have all the money for the same reason that one person shouldn't have all the guns. Tyranny results.
Poverty is a 100% preventable cause of death and despair. But it takes a government that cares.
When you are sick and can't afford a doctor, you tend to start supporting universal healthcare.
If you cannot put the Gods first, what can you put first? The Gods are the greatest of all. They're the reason you're breathing right now. If you can neglect them, you can easily neglect your family, friends and yourself.
I've seen and experienced enough to know that 50% of someone's unhappiness comes from trying to be something they're not. Sit down for a whole day and have a conversation with yourself about who you are, and disregard what everyone else thinks. Most of them don't care about your happiness. So you have to.
Each day when I get up, I say to myself, "I'm going to do something purposeful with my life today." Whether it be a new investment, learning a new skill, or just running my website better and working out a little harder. Do something, to my mind, to be a little better than yesterday, and make the Gods look slightly more in my direction.
If you're only nice and helpful to people when you get noticed, you're doing it for the wrong reason. The Gods see you and that's all that matters. They're the biggest fans you can have.
Modern scientists tend to be reverent of no power except their own. They see no reason why they can't mess with whatever they want so long as they have the money and the legal consent. It's therefore foolish to give so much power over our world to the most arrogant group of people. People like me are not against progress, we are against the self-destruction of humanity.
If I could choose my last words, they would be these: "The world was so unfair, but what a beautiful world it was."