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Neel Burton Quotes

According to the Buddha, the failure to recognize the illusion of the self is the source of all ignorance and unhappiness. It is only by renouncing the self, that is, by dropping his ego defences and committing

According to the Buddha, the failure to recognize the illusion of the self is the source of all ignorance and unhappiness. It is only by renouncing the self, that is, by dropping his ego defences and committing metaphorical suicide, that a person can open up to different modes of being and relating and thereby transform himself into a pure essence of humanity. In so doing, he becomes free to recast himself as a much more joyful and productive person, and attains the only species of transcendence and immortality that is open to man.

Neel Burton
Suicide, Ignorance, Men
FaceBook post by Neel Burton from Nov 08, 2013

Self-deception is a defining part of our human nature. By recognizing its various forms in ourselves and reflecting upon them, we may be able to disarm them and even, in some cases, to employ and enjoy them. This self-knowledge opens up a whole new world before us, rich in beauty and subtlety, and frees us not only to take the best out of it, but also to give it back the best of ourselves, and, in so doing, to fulfil our potential as human beings. I don't really think it's a choice.

Neel Burton
Thinking, Self, Reflecting Upon
FaceBook post by Neel Burton from Mar 05, 2013

There are essentially three types of people: those who love life more than they fear it, those who fear life more than they love it, and those who have no clue what I'm talking about.

Neel Burton
Love Life, Talking, People
FaceBook post by Neel Burton from Mar 07, 2014

Depression: the healthy suspicion that modern life has no meaning and that modern society is absurd and alienating.

Neel Burton
Healthy, Modern Life, Absurd
Neel Burton (2017). “Growing from Depression, second edition”, p.61, Acheron Press

A man shrinks or expands into the degree and nature of his ambition. Ambition needs to be cultivated and refined, and yet has no teachers.

Neel Burton
Teacher, Ambition, Men
FaceBook post by Neel Burton from Jan 06, 2014

Man first creates the universe in his image, and then turns round to say that God created man in his image... As Voltaire quipped, if God created man in his image, man has returned the compliment.

Neel Burton
Men, Firsts, Turns

Wine is one of the most complex of all beverages: the fruit of a soil, climate, and vintage, digested by a fungus through a process guided by the culture, vision, and skill of an individual man or woman.

Neel Burton
Wine, Men, Vintage
Neel Burton (2016). “The Concise Guide to Wine and Blind Tasting, second edition”, p.22, Acheron Press

While conversion of sugars to ethanol is the predominant reaction, it is only one of potentially thousands of biochemical reactions taking place during fermentation. As a result, wine contains trace amounts of a large number of organic acids, esters, sugars, alcohols, and other molecules. Wine is, in fact, one of the most complex of all beverages: the fruit of a soil, climate, and vintage, digested by a fungus through a process guided by the culture, vision, and skill of an individual man or woman.

Neel Burton
Wine, Men, Vintage

The notion of dream interpretation far antedates the birth of psychoanalysis, and probably served an important function in most, if not all, historical societies. In having lost this function, modern man has also lost the best part of his nature, which he obliviously passes on to the next generation of dreamers.

Neel Burton
Dream, Men, Historical

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