1
" He shook his head, just looking at me. - " What?" I asked.- " Nothing" he said.- " Why are you looking at me like that?" Augustus half smiled. " Because you`re beautiful. I enjoy looking at beautiful people, and I decided a while ago not to deny myself the simpler pleasures of existence." A brief awkward silence ensued. Augustus plowed through: " I mean, particularly given that, as you so deliciously pointed out, all of this will end in oblivion and everything." I kind of scoffed or sighed or exhaled in a way that was vaguely coughy and then said, " I`m not beau-" - " You are like a millennial Natalie Portman. Like V for Vendetta Natalie Portman." - " Never seen it." - " Really?" he asked. " Pixie-haired gorgeous girl dislikes authority and can`t help but fall for a boy she knows is trouble. It`s your autobiography, so far as I can tell." His every syllable flirted. Honestly, he kind of turned me on. I didn`t even know that guys could turn me on - not, like, in real life. "
6
" The typical capitalists are lovers of power rather than sensual indulgence, but they have the same tendency to crush and to take tribute that the cruder types of sensualism possess. The discipline of the capitalist is the same as that of the frugalist. He differs from the latter in that he has no regard for the objects through which productive power is acquired. HE does not hesitate to exploit natural resources, lands, dumb animals and even his fellowman. Capital to such a man is an abstract fund, made up of perishable elements which are quickly replaced… The frugalist…stands in marked contrast to the attitude of the capitalist. The frugalist takes a vital interest in his tools, in his land, and in the goods he produces. He has a definite attachment to each. He dislikes to see an old coat wear out, an old wagon break down, or an old horse go lame. He always thinks of concrete things, wants them and nothing else. He desires not land, but a given farm, not horses or cattle and machines, but particular breeds and implements; not shelter, but a home…. He rejects as unworthy what is below standard and despises as luxurious what is above or outside of it. Dominated by activities, he thinks of capital as a means to an end. "
― , Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture
15
" One wonderful lesson I’ve learnt is that the life will never become perfect whatever you may do. As we have always been told, nothing is perfect anyway. But I wonder, if it did, then there will be no more need to live further. Having mastered all the lessons of the fifth class, why be in it any more? So, this life is actually not planned to satisfy and it does not satisfy. If it did, then there will be no progress and nothing more to live for. Life is planned to allure first and dissatisfy at last. Allure, so that we may enter into with zest and hope; and dissatisfy, so that we may not like to settle in it forever, but seek other higher forms of life. So, troubles keep us from falling, they keep us from being blown away, they are counter weights in life to keep balance.Troubles are like soap and water, without you don’t keep pure and fresh. The baby dislikes soap and water-bath, resists and kicks, and so we do with troubles. Like a tonic, they provoke thoughts, provoke actions and promote further growth. So, life in a way teaches us that the will of destiny is not that we should be free from troubles and sorrows, but be clean, fresh, active and ever growing. "
17
" Following feeling, relying on liking or wanting, we are not free. The freedom to " do as we like" is not freedom of choice because we are ruled by the powerful property of feeling; we cannot choose apart from liking and disliking. Likes and dislikes may be articulated in the form of sophisticated-sounding opinions, but the decision is made for us by feeling. The Western world places a high value on personal feelings and opinions: Each individual " has a right" to an opinion. But rarely do we question how we have arrived at our opinion. Upon examination, we may discover that opinions tend to stem from convenience, familiarity, and selfishness–what feels good or what is pleasing or comfortable to us. Upon this basis, we act, and receive the consequences of our action. Even if we compile a large number of such opinions, there is no guarantee that we will develop a wise perspective as a ground for action. Often this process only creates a mass of confusion, for opinions of one individual tend to conflict with the opinions of another. If there appears to be agreement, we tend to assume this agreement will remain stable. But agreement only means that the needs of the individuals involved are temporarily similar, and when those needs shift, agreement will evaporate. To make certain decisions, we rely on logic or scientific findings, which are supposedly free from personal opinion but are still weighted with the opinions of a particular culture. This style of knowing is founded on particular distinctions and ignores other possibilities. The evidence is clear that the scope of modern scientific knowledge is limited, for this knowledge is not yet able to predict and control the side-effects resulting from its own use. Its solutions in turn create more problems, reinforcing the circular patterns of samsara. Only understanding that penetrates to the root causes of problems can break this circularity. Until we explore the depths of consciousness, we cannot resolve the fundamental questions that face human beings. "