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Ian Fleming - James Bond's Creator
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Ian Lancaster Fleming (1908-1964), the author of the James Bond 007 novels, was the grandson of a Scottish banker and the son of a Conservative MP (Member of Parliament). His father died in the first world war. In his will, he bequeathed his property ...
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By Sam Vaknin Hits: 9184
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The Madness of Playing Games
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If a lone, unkempt, person, standing on a soapbox were to say that he should become the Prime Minister, he would have been diagnosed by a passing psychiatrist as suffering from this or that mental disturbance. But were the same psychiatrist to freque ...
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By Sam Vaknin Hits: 16624
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Ignorance and Fantasy
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Are beliefs not often the children of ignorance and fantasy? Consider the heavenly view of the world that young souls entertain at the height of their innocence, when their youth has been surrounded by love and filled with happiness. Hear their laugh ...
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By Laurent Grenier Hits: 14385
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Violence
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Flashes of memory stream into my consciousness. They take me back thirty years plus. I was a boy then, a newcomer to a poor and tough neighborhood. My parents, of moderate means and daring to a fault, had decided to move there after my father had acc ...
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By Laurent Grenier Hits: 7207
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Love and Courage
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To many work is not a gratifying opportunity to do good, but a necessary evil they would gladly forgo if they won or inherited a fortune. It is just a livelihood, a vital drudgery. Its meaning is the paycheck and the value it has in terms of service ...
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By Laurent Grenier Hits: 29898
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Greatness
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When I was a nineteen-year-old high school student and budding poet ?¨C two years after my diving accident ?¨C many factors adversely affected my creativity. My trips in a special bus to school and back home, my courses, and my assignments, though I wa ...
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By Laurent Grenier Hits: 26673
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Honesty
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Those who pride themselves on their honesty should also concern themselves with this principle: The effectiveness of honesty depends on a person's willingness to face the truth, which may conflict with this person's desires and provoke denial.
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By Laurent Grenier Hits: 3515
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The Essence of Freedom
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Life is too hard and too risky in the eyes of many. By contrast, others are such proponents of a virile existence, demanding great courage and giving great pride, that they are ready to leave the coziness of their home to scale Mount Everest and brea ...
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By Laurent Grenier Hits: 25164
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The Capacity for Happiness and Respectability
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Humans are liable to experience a variety of afflictions, but they are commonly endowed with a capacity for happiness and respectability. There is no guarantee, however, that they will exercise this capacity at all times and to the maximum, whatever ...
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By Laurent Grenier Hits: 6502
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Happiness
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Having said this, even this sort of happiness is a product of positive thinking and positive action, with good fortune lending a helping hand. In short, it is a product of will in relatively favorable circumstances. But isn't it peculiar to imply tha ...
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By Laurent Grenier Hits: 3141
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To Think for Oneself
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Let us examine the three purposes of writing: to inform, entertain, and enlighten. To me, the second one is bottom of the list, though it is instrumental in the achievement of the two others. Every great teacher knows this intimately and readily lace ...
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By Laurent Grenier Hits: 27184
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Wisdom
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What is wisdom? But first, what are the conditions that render it desirable, if not necessary, and what is its essential purpose?
Life is a desire to live, and better still a desire to live happily. As we strive to satisfy this desire ...
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By Laurent Grenier Hits: 3693
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Suffering
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Since wisdom is the art of coping with suffering, it starts with a willingness to tackle it head-on:
a) Such is the harshness of our condition that we suffer, sometimes greatly or worse, insuperably.
b) Such is the rich ...
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By Laurent Grenier Hits: 16955
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The Columnist in the Mousetrap
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I am a voracious reader of the most convoluted and lexiphanic texts - yet, there is one author I prefer to most. She gives me the greatest pleasure and leaves me tranquil and craving for more when I am through devouring one of her countless tomes. A ...
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By Sam Vaknin Hits: 28272
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