Quotes – Kent Fackenthall

Stoic Joy

“We normally characterize an optimist as someone who sees his glass as being half full rather than half empty. For a Stoic, though, this degree of optimism would only be a starting point. After expressing this appreciation that his glass is half full rather than being completely empty, he will go on to express his delight in even having a glass; It could, after all, have been broken or stolen. And if he is atop his Stoic game, he might go on to comment about what an astonishing thing glass vessels are; They are cheap and fairly durable, impart no taste to what we put in them, and – miracle of miracles! – allow us to see what they contain. This might sound a bit silly, but to someone who has not lost his capacity for joy, the world is a wonderful place. To such a person, glasses are amazing; to everyone else, a glass is just a glass, and it is half empty to boot.”*
-William B. Irvine, A Guide to the Good Life, The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy

*emphasis mine

Same As It Ever Was

“I wouldn’t be surprised if poetry—poetry in the broadest sense, in the sense of a world filled with metaphor, rhyme, and recurring patterns, shapes and designs—is how the world works. The world isn’t logical, it’s a song.”
–David Byrne, Bicycle Diaries

On ‘Patriots’

Arthur Schopenhauer throws a little shade on some recent events, with help from Michael Dirda and The Washington Post:

“Every miserable fool who has nothing at all of which he can be proud, adopts, as a last resource, pride in the nation to which he belongs; he is ready and glad to defend all its faults and follies tooth and nail, thus reimbursing himself for his own inferiority.”
– ‘On The Suffering of the World’, Arthur Schopenhauer

Hidden Words

“Poetry is actually quite often the discipline of overhearing yourself say something you didn’t know you knew.”
-David Whyte

The Immediacy Filter

“One of the most useful bits of advice I ever got, came from the writer Anne Herbert who said that whenever she got an invitation to do something months away or even a week away, she asked herself whether she would accept the gig/meeting/task if it was tomorrow. The answer was often no. I use that immediacy trick all the time, and it has served me very well.”
Kevin Kelly

The Ongoing Quest

“As certain as weather coming from the west, the things people know for sure will change. There is no knowing for a fact. The only dependable things are humility and looking.”
-Richard Powers, The Overstory

Let It Rain

“Instead of expressing their gratitude to the rain for getting wet, people walk around with umbrellas. Nature is an old lady with few suitors these days, and those who wish to make use of her charms she rewards passionately.”
-Tim Krabbé, The Rider

On Reverence for the Natural World

“Implements, tools, equipment. If they do what they were designed for, then they work. Even if the person who designed them is miles away.

But with naturally occurring things, the force that designed them is present within them and remains there. Which is why we owe it special reverence, with the recognition that if you live and act as it dictates, then everything in you is intelligently ordered. Just as everything in the world is.”
-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations (Gregory Hayes translation, 2002)

Quiet Desperation

“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things..”
-Henry David Thoreau

Joe Rogan: “That’s Thoreau’s quote – that ‘most men live lives of quiet desperation’ – that’s one of my favorite quotes ever, because it’s true – and I’ve been that guy. You’re just in this world where you just can’t wait to run away.”

Annie Jacobsen: “And how do people get stuck there – how do you think they get stuck there?”

JR: “Bills and commitment. You have an apartment to pay for, you have a car you leased, you have a wife that you have to feed, you have a child you have to raise. You have your mortgage. You have your this, you have your that…and that’s where it all comes from.”

AJ: “Where do you think opportunity plays into that?”

JR: “Well, the opportunity takes place, usually when you’re young and you have no responsibility. That’s when you have your options. Your options are severely limited the more you gather responsibilities. Like, if I as a 51 year old, father of 3, married man, pays taxes, has a house and mortgage and a business and all that jazz, if I had to quit everything now and struggle the way I struggled as a standup comedian – it would never work.”

“The only way I could be this person now is if I took that chance when I was 21, when I was dead broke and had my cars repossessed and all that stuff. That’s the only way that you ever get where you want to go. You have to take a path that’s dangerous and most people want to take the safe path. And the safe path leaves you stuck in ‘quiet desperation’ almost every time. It’s hell. It’s hell. You’re selling insurance or some other shit that you care zero about.”

AJ: “But can people just make that change?”

JR: “Yes, yes you can, but you have to plan it out. The way to make that change is you have to put aside enough money to give yourself a window. And then you have to have a plan, and you have to spend all your waking hours outside of whatever shit job you do planning your escape, and you have to come to the realization very clearly, that you fucked up – you got yourself stuck, so whatever you’re doing you have to do it like your life depends on it. Whether it is…if you’re going to try and be an author and you’re working 8 hours a day, plus commuting, plus family responsibilities plus whatever else you have, whatever time that you have, you have to attack like you’re trying to save the world, like you’re trying to save your life, you don’t want to drown. That one and a half hours a day that you have to write – god damn – you better be caffeinated and motivated. You gotta go. You gotta get after it. You gotta have discipline – that’s what most people don’t have, those things, most people don’t understand what it’s like to really go for something and to know that the consequences of not doing that are horrific.”

-Joe Rogan Podcast #1299 with Annie Jacobsen, 1:04:00

Seems Simple Enough

“Be a good steward of your gifts. Protect your time. Feed your inner life. Avoid too much noise. Read good books, have good sentences in your ears. Be by yourself as often as you can. Walk. Take the phone off the hook. Work regular hours.”
-Jane Kenyon