Midlife crisis

"There is no greater tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of law and in the name of justice." -Montesquieu-


"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive." -C.S. Lewis-


“The Communists’ chief purpose is to destroy every form of independence—independent work, independent action, independent property, independent thought, an independent mind, or an independent man. Conformity, alikeness, servility, submission and obedience are necessary to establish a Communist slave-state.” -Ayn Rand-


"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money." -Margaret Thatcher-


“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the party is always right.” -George Orwell-


"People will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think." -Aldous Huxley-


“There will be, in the next generation or so, a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude, and producing dictatorship without tears, so to speak, producing a kind of painless concentration camp for entire societies, so that people will in fact have their liberties taken away from them, but will rather enjoy it, because they will be distracted from any desire to rebel by propaganda or brainwashing, or brainwashing enhanced by pharmacological methods. And this seems to be the final revolution” -Aldous Huxley-

“Most people are not just comfortable in their ignorance, but hostile to anyone who points it out.” ― Plato, The Allegory of the Cave.


“We can ignore reality, but we cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.”
-Ayn Rand-


"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
-Edmund Burke-


"Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
-Dietrich Bonhoeffer-


“A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying, ‘You are mad; you are not like us.' "
-St. Anthony the Great-


"To sell your soul is the easiest thing in the world. That’s what everybody does every hour of his life. If I asked you to keep your soul – would you understand why that’s much harder?"
-Ayn Rand-


A lie doesn't become truth, wrong doesn't become right, and evil doesn't become good, just because it's accepted by a majority.”
-Booker T. Washington-


“In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
-George Orwell-


"The truth is like a lion; you don’t have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself.”
-St. Augustine-


“The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.”
-John Stuart Mill-


"You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor."
-Aristotle-


“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.”
-John Wayne-






“Socialists ignore the side of man that is the spirit. They can provide you shelter, fill your belly with bacon and beans, treat you when you're ill, all the things guaranteed to a prisoner or a slave. They don't understand that we also dream.” -Ronald Reagan-




"How do you tell a Communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin.” -Ronald Reagan-




“When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”

-Thomas Jefferson-




"A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.”

-John Adams-


Everything good has been destroyed or is being destroyed. Feel lucky to have grown up in an era where men and women were free and common sense reigned supreme. Today's world sucks, those that can't see this, well refer them to Plato's quote above.

Or just appreciate what you’ve accomplished without dumping on what people are creating now.

Oh, I love this post. By the way, it's okay to mourn and say good riddance. Good prose.

1) Databases which are searchable are much better ways to hone in on information than a card catalog. The meander through the latter was fun, but it isn't the way to efficiently access information when one has specific / particular questions.

2) Since you are a thinker and reader, the access to actual information (not just the crap of people photographing their meals or sharing unfounded & ungrounded opinions) is amazing.

3) YouTube has become a treasure trove of short tutorials by persons with the "10,000 hours of experience" helping to pass on that specific information to help
one successfully complete projects, etc.

4) Many texts and much music which have / has gone out of copyright are available freely over the internet.

5) Access to reference information is much better.

6) Access to free training/learning materials is much better.

7) Access to trip-related information is much easier.

8) Access to banking and investing is much easier.

9) Access to a vast array of retail items is much easier.

I can relate. Recently separated. Half way to 100. Lamenting the choices made. But all I can do is dust myself off and keep doing the things that make me whole and give me energy.

I absolutely love this post. It's so very real and honest.
I feel this way too, and I have to remind myself that given the fact I turn 64 on this Saturday, I want at least 20 more years.
I'm not ready to give up the good fight.
I've got so much more to experience, so much more to give. But still, my own mortality looms.
-Kelly. ❤️💞🤗🌹

I, too, mourn the friends that have gone and the love that's still out there but out of reach.

Not that I haven't learned a lot, but I wish I could turn back the clock.
I would do so many things differently.

Well put!

The world we exist is hell on earth right now, I'm content for my next breath.

Age is really just a number. You can be ageless, it is your choice.

Have fun collecting records. It's a joy!