philosophers

I recently posted something on Facebook and one of my friends responded with some quote from some ancient philosopher. It did make me think and ponder for a couple of minutes and I was able to view the idea from several different sides. Yes, my brain was working.

There is always lots of guidance and inspiration posted on Facebook. As a matter of fact I go there first everyday looking for inspiration. Maybe it'll come from just a thought someone has had and felt strongly about posting regarding their coffee or their recent pains or even something stupid their kid did or said. Or better yet, their cat. You can always count on a cat to do something stupid or funny or both!

But my favorite is quotes by ancient dudes walking around in robes, eating fruit and drinking wine. Single guys mostly, because no woman would want what they have which would have been nothing because none of them worked! So since they didn't work, they didn't pay taxes and were probably supported by rich folks or the state. Not to mention children. I'm sure very few of these ancient philosophers had kids, a wife, a job, a mortgage, car payments, the Internet or the coolest Smart Phone available. So why the heck would I give a crap what they thought or said about life?

If you really want to inspire me, let me know what the poor little bastard thought that had to slave to feed his 20 kids or so who couldn't figure out why every time he turned around his wife was "with child" again. Let me know what that ancient guy thought! I'm pretty sure I might get a better idea about what to expect in life and how to make it through the day.

Just think about it. We have all these major religions on the earth today started by weird guys that didn't work, spouted out a lot of strange ideas, borrowed money and food, drank a lot of wine, talked to themselves and honestly? Probably smelled bad. It's like asking the guy that just asked you for a dollar what they thought about life and eternity and then actually taking their advice!

It's just all mixed up.

How come Alexander the Great couldn't have started some religion? Cleopatra? Henry VIII... How come we don't have a great book of quotes from Napoleon? Instead, we get the homeless guy, ask him what he thought, write it down and try to figure out what they hell he meant for the next 2000 or so years.

So the next time you're walking down the street and somebody comes up and ask you for a dollar, try not to ignore them like you usually do. Instead invite them to dinner and ask them what they think about life, love and humanity in general. You might be inspired or at the very least weirded out a bit. But either way I'm sure it will make for a much better status update then. "yummm. Coffee."