Virgil Cepari, Vita del Beato Luigi Gonzaga, 1606
"Granted that the easygoing optimism of yesterday is impossible. Granted that those who pioneer in the struggle for peace and freedom will still face uncomfortable jail terms, painful threats of death; they will still be battered by the storms of persecution, leading them to the nagging feeling that they can no longer bear such a heavy burden, and the temptation of wanting to retreat to a more quiet and serene life. Granted that we face a world crisis which leaves us standing so often amid the surging murmur of life’s restless sea. But every crisis has both its dangers and its opportunities. It can spell either salvation or doom. In a dark confused world the kingdom of God may yet reign in the hearts of men."
Martin Luther King, Nobel Peace Prize Address, Oslo 11 December 1964
"Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to such a pass that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love, and in order to occupy and distract himself without love he gives way to passions and coarse pleasures, and sinks to bestiality in his vices, all from continually lying to other men and to himself.
The man who lies to himself can be more easily offended than any one. You know it is sometimes very pleasant to take offense, isn't it? A man may know that nobody has insulted him, but that he has invented the insult for himself, has lied and exaggerated to make it picturesque, has caught at a word and made a mountain out of a molehill—he knows that himself, yet he will be the first to take offense, and will revel in his resentment till he feels great pleasure in it, and so pass to genuine vengefulness."
Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, 1880
“You cannot play with the animal in you without becoming wholly animal, play with falsehood without forfeiting your right to truth, or play with cruelty without losing your sensitivity of mind. Your cravings for 'justice,' 'love,' or 'peace' can all too easily become a mask for personal vanity."
Dag Hammarskjöld, Nobel Peace Prize (posthumous) 1961
“Now he had learnt to see the great, the eternal, the infinite in everything; and therefore – to see it and revel in its contemplation – he naturally threw away the telescope through which he had hitherto been gazing over men’s heads, and joyfully feasted his eyes on the ever-changing, eternally great, unfathomable and infinite life around him.
And the closer he looked, the more tranquil and happier he was. The awful question that had shattered all his mental edifices in the past – the question: Why? What for? – no longer existed for him.”
Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace, Book 3, Part 4, Chapter 12, 1867
“Come to me, all you who are weary and overburdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30
Stocks fell today, ahead of the stock option expiration tomorrow.
The Dollar edged a little higher.
Gold and silver were hammered, in the traditional pre-expiration action.
VIX rose.
Trump speaks on national TV tonight.
Here is a surprising bit of news.
Trump Media to sell 'faster millisecond access' branded 'Truth API' to Trump's Truth Social posts starting August 1, letting traders, hedge funds, and high-frequency trading firms pay for real-time millisecond access to Trump's Truth Social posts where he often breaks government news that can move markets.
Brazenly selling privileged access to government information for the purposes of trading the financial markets? I still find this hard to believe.
Risks are abounding.
Let's see how we go into the weekend.
Have a pleasant evening.
