Fire and Knowledge

One of the ways in which the damned will be confounded is that they will see themselves condemned by their own reason, by which they claimed to condemn the Christian religion.
—Blaise Pascal, Pensées, in Christianity for Modern Pagans by Peter Kreeft, p. 238

I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.
—Groucho Marx (Attributed)

Touchstone Magazine - Mere Comments: Evangelical Effeminacy

Every American evangelical is familiar with the phrases “I just don’t have a peace about it” or “Let me pray about it.” To many these comments seem deeply pious and spiritual, but they can just as easily mask the sin of a lazy and indecisive Christian. This is particularly a problem among Christian men, who often are paralyzed for months or years about decisions ranging from wedding engagements to career choices because they are still “seeking a word from the Lord.”

Truth is so obscured nowadays and lies [are] so well established that unless we love the truth we shall never recognize it.
—Blaise Pascal, Pensées, in Christianity for Modern Pagans by Peter Kreeft, p. 216

If we do not resist deception in all its forms, we lose much of what it means to be created as human beings with cosmic responsibilities. We become, like our machines, incapable of knowing who we really are and how we should truly live.
—Quentin Schultze, Habits of the High-Tech Heart (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2002), p. 132

Well, Mr. Friedman, don’t you realize that the Game Boy and TV are prime manifestations of the very processing power you want to cultivate in these kids? Do you really expect young people to put their energies into the mind-numbing (and sometimes degrading) job of programming such devices without themselves becoming desperately dependent upon the empty-caloried stimulation of the products they are producing? Instead of running faster to raise our standard of living, maybe we need to slow down and consider what sort of standards we want to live by. (Emphasis mine)
—Stephen L. Talbott, “The Barren Global Vision of Thomas Friedman” in NetFuture, Issue #163 (May 13, 2005).

Because God knows I need the help.

You’ve decided you want to improve your handwriting and you’re probably hoping a fountain pen will do the trick — maybe a friend told you it would. Maybe you’re just adventurous and you want to try your hand at calligraphy (or you might, once your handwriting improves). Good for you!

…and, as usual, it is me. I have just read about Moleskine notebooks. Enlightenment.