Exodus From New Yorkistan...

 "They plunder, they steal and they slaughter; this they falsely name 'Empire' and where they make a wasteland, they call it 'Peace'..." -- Gaius Cornelius Tacitus

You All Suck (#41 - A New Imperialism)

 "Angeles was safe from invasion; the invaders wouldn't find a place to park." -- Robert A. Heinlein

You All Suck (Example #35 --You're An Idiot, Now Shut Up...)

"The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently." -- Friedrich Nietzsche

"Youth is easy to deceive because it is quick to hope." -- Aristotle

Steve And Alice

"The Kind of Man who wants the Government to adopt and enforce his ideas is always the kind of man whose ideas are idiotic." -- H.L. Mencken

"A much-larger covey hails from the stalwart states that begin with I -- like Iowa and Indiana and Illinois. Bred with just the right combination of fresh air, roughousing, and ignorance, these primitive blondes set out from the cornfields looking like starlight with limbs." -- Amor Towles, "Rules of Civility"

The Pretense to As*hole...

I usually begin one of these mental health exercises with a quote from The Sages. The subject is "pretense", however, and when I'd realized that I could not remember any related quote from my quite prodigious memory, I took to the internet to search one out.

Only to discover most of the quotes recorded on the subject came from second- and third-rate modern actors and actresses begging not to be considered pretentious frauds.

Whereupon, I gave up on the endeavor.

Voices Inside My Head (#13 - Stuff That Needs Sayin')

"Do not consider Collectivists as "sincere but deluded idealists". The proposal to enslave some men for the sake of others is not an ideal; brutality is not "idealistic", no matter what its purpose. Do not ever say that the desire to "do good" by force is a good motive. Neither power lust nor stupidity are good motives."  -- Ayn Rand

The Derp State Approaches...

"Self-righteous dumbfuck is not a very good look, nor a profession, Missy." - The Overlord

"Yet it is folly to argue against determined hardness; eloquence may strike the ear, and the language of sorrow draw forth the tear of compassion, but nothing can reach the heart that is steeled with prejudice." -- Thomas Paine, The Crisis

Making Spirits Bright...

"Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves." -- Eric Severeid

You All Suck (Example #24 -- Empire State Edition)

"Remember, it is not enough to be hit or insulted to be harmed, you must believe you are being harmed. If someone succeeds in provoking you, realize that your mind is complicit in the provocation. Which is why it is essential that we not respond impulsively to impressions; take a moment before reacting and you will find it easier to maintain control" -- Epictetus, The Art of Living"