Thursday, December 02, 2004

Fear and Hope

It takes a lot more strength of character to do the right thing when you do not expect to be rewarded in heaven. An awful lot of what is packaged as moral behavior just makes sense for a friendly society. Don't steal stuff. Don't lie. Don't cheat. Don't disrupt other people's relationships for your own selfish gain. Take a critical look at what looks like an easy gain, to see who might be getting burned by it. It isn't necessarily tainted. Just take a second to make sure.

You don't have to be conspicuously doing good all the time. Just don't do bad.

Have a sense of responsibility toward those who will follow you. Maybe there's a heaven. Maybe there isn't. Argue that on your own time. Just don't stink the place up unduly while you're here.

All that's needed for good to triumph is for bad people to do nothing.

In laziness and lack of ambition lies the salvation of the world. Sit down, put your feet up and make a difference.

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