"Above all, do not lie to yourself. A man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point where he does not discern any truth either in himself or anywhere around him, and thus falls into disrespect towards himself and others. Not respecting anyone, he ceases to love, and having no love, he gives himself up to passions and coarse pleasures, in order to occupy and amuse himself, and in vices reaches complete bestiality, and it all comes from lying continually to others and to himself.”
Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.”
Soren Kierkegaard
"You have lost your reason and taken the wrong path. You have taken lies for truth, and hideousness for beauty. You would marvel if, owing to strange events of some sorts, frogs and lizards suddenly grew on apple and orange trees instead of fruit, or if roses began to smell like a sweating horse; so I marvel at you who exchange heaven for earth. I don't want to understand you.”
Anton Chekhov, The Bet
“Imaginary evil is romantic and varied; real evil is gloomy, monotonous, barren, boring. Imaginary good is boring; real good is always new, marvelous, intoxicating.”
Simone Weil
The Dollar slumped and gold and silver had some nice moves higher today.
They did not yet break out.
Stocks slumped badly on poor news on the China trade deal, and from a much worse than expected Chicago PMI this morning.
They did not break down, and managed to bounce off their lows into the close.
Many rush to put their noses into news sites that will tell them the lies that they wish to hear.
As for the truth, they do not want any part of it.
It is hard to do anything for those who have chosen to love the lie, and embrace the darkness of the world, except to continue to remember them in our prayers. They must regain their senses on their own, and choose to walk back into the light. They cannot do this while they believe that good and evil do not matter, and that the battle for their souls is not real.
Have a pleasant evening.
