“This is less teaching than damage control. You may as well paint a house that’s on fire.”

“... the house is on fire, but go ahead - finish painting the verandah...”

“We teach people how to treat us. If you don’t put up with shit, and don’t settle for anything less than respect, that’s what you’ll get. But if you let the douchebags walk all over you and treat you like you’re disposable, then that’s what you’ll always get.”

“Why does no one speak of the cultural advantages of the country? For example, is a well groomed, ecologically kept, sustainably fertile farm any less cultural, any less artful, than paintings of fat angels on church ceilings?”

“You may control a mad elephant;You may shut the mouth of the bear and the tiger;Ride the lion and play with the cobra;By alchemy you may learn your livelihood;You may wander through the universe incognito;Make vassals of the gods; be ever youthful;You may walk in water and live in fire;But control of the mind is better and more difficult.”

“A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body.”