Potluck Quote (2 of 10): Slavoj Zizek

According to the Instagram site for "Mental Floss," the American embassies for nations of Slovenia and Slovakia get together once a month to exchange letters that are meant for the other. We imagine the folks at "Washington Diplomat" are fully aware of this.

And, perhaps by merely mentioning Peter Sagal, the host of NPR's "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me," who actually wrote a play called "Denial" some twenty years ago, we can get a few more domestic hits for this blog.

Today, we quote Slovenian left-leaning philosopher Slavoj Zizek who is probably not admire by either Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio:

"When I really love someone, I can only show it by making aggressive and bad-taste remarks."

Quote of the Day (9 of 16): Karl Marx

"If anything is certain, it is that I myself am NOT a Marxist," Karl Marx.

http://www.philosophytalk.org/

Quote of the Day/Week- Jesus Christ

Today, we begin a series of quotes from figures who are asociated with the Unemployed Philosophers Guild, an American toy/novelty country, and we hope today's quote gets noticed by people who go to the presumably very conservative Church of the Living God in Eden, NC, some 10 miles from the Virginia border as well as folks who go to the presumably liberal Unitarian Universalist Church* in Charlotte, NC, some three and a half hours away from Eden.

Interestingly enough, the temperature in Bethlehem, Pa., today was 79 degrees. We would have checked the weather in Dubai, but we presume not many folks there will be interested in this post (for obvious reasons) and we reasonably assured that it is very hot there.

The novelty company offers the following products with Jesus: a toy pupett ($5.95), a plush toy ($17.95), a Jesus Shaves mug ($12.95) and a Jesus pill box ($11.95).

Other companies of a similar nature offer Jesus Christ bobblehead dolls and Jesus Christ dashboard toys.

Here is the quote from Jesus, whom we are quoting for the first time, and when we read this Donald Trump came to mind :

"What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul."

*-A congregation more in life with our world view...


http://www.christjesus.us

http://www.philosophersguild.com

Quote of the Week- Jean Paul Sartre

While putting this piece together, I was struck by the irony that my late Turkish father and the late French Marxist philosopher Jean Paul Sartre (1905-1980) both enjoyed smoking pipes even though my father was a bit of a right-wing Turkish nationalist!

Sartre, who was also among the leading atheist intellectuals in France, is known for his widely-read short story collection "Le Mur/The Road" (1938) and his philosophy collection "Being and Nothingness" (1943).

I found a copy of a book called "Sartre for Beginners" (1998), written by Philip Thordy and Howard Reed and published by Icon Books, at the Internationalist Bookstore in Chapel Hill, NC.

Icon Books recently published a book by English author Kate Munro called "The First Time" about modern sexuality, which also sounds like an interesting read.

Due to time constraints are quote today is going to be extremely short; we are planning to have quotes from many French people past and present in July. This entry is part of our month-long series on quotes from left-wing, radical figures. Here is the quip from Sartre:

"Hell is other people."

SIDEBAR: While I was trying to put this entry together at the Wilson, NC, public library (not really where I am at!), a group of children came through the doors and they really annoyed me. As the late American comic actor W.C. Fields once said: "No one qho hate dogs and children can be all that bad."

I don't dislike children as individuals, but when there are large groups of them, they get on my last nerve, which is perhaps why it is a good thing that I am not a father.

But, I found this interesting disclosure from someone who did not give their name or hometown on myworstsecret.com who professes an even more profound distaste for children than I do. This person and I are probably very different in other aspects of life, which I will go into after showing what he or she said:

"I hate children. I really do. Oddly enough, I'm pro-life and have a 2 year old. I don't want kids to DIE, I just can't stand them."

Personally, I am a moderate liberal (though I love to quote socialists; it must come from being surrounded by Yosemite Sam Republicans) and I am pro-choice. Also, I would not use the word hate for how I feel about children, but in groups of two or more, they do tend to profoundly annoy me!

Ironically, I had a post on this blog for Children's Day in Turkey, which is on April 23rd....

Quote of the Day- Leo Strauss

We don't quite agree with all the views of the late political philosopher Leo Strauss (1899-1973), a German emigre who was the leading influence of the neo-conservative movement (which is the general editorial position of "The Weekly Standard" magazine), but he did have a few interesting things to say. And, since we are featuring philosophers this month, including a quip from the very liberal philosopher Noam Chomsky on our other blog today, we figured we'd 'balance' things with a quip from Strauss:

"All there is to thinking is seeing something noticeable, which makes you see something you weren't noticing, which makes you see something that isn't even visible."

Quote of the Week- Sun Tzu

Today, we quip the ancient Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu (544-496 BC) who ironically has a statue of himself in Tottori, Japan. We should perhaps dedicate an entry to the tsunami sufferers some time...........hmmm......yeah, that PSA series didn't go over too well (you need to be a long-time reader of this blog to perhaps get the joke and we don't have very many of those).

Tzu's most famous work "Art of War," which Paris Hilton has supposedly read!, was listed by "Mental Floss" magazine as one of the best books once can read on the Washington, DC metro commute between Arlington and the Smithsonian stops (Mental Floss actually said it was one of the best short books to read, we are putting in the DC metro to hopefully 'increase our circulation numbers' in that area which has considerably more people than War, WVa.,* where I am blogging from at the moment**).

Here is the quote from the great Chinese philosopher which will paste here so we can get out of the building in time for Oprah:

"If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain to be in peril."

*- There is actually a coal-mining town called War, WVa., the far southeastern part of the state.

**- It is not actually where I am blogging from!

Quote of the Week- Jacques Derrida

This is the first entry in a series of quotes from famous philosophers that will run on Mondays in March. It is perhaps fitting as we posted a blog entry in "The Daily Vampire," which is also by Tilly Gokbudak (who is me, yes I think referring to yourself as if you are someone else is quite obnoxious too!), about names that we had not spelled correctly that we have a quote from Jacques Derrida (1930-2004).

Up until I googled him about a half-hour ago, I wasn't sure if the late French philosopher's name was spelled with one 'd' or two 'd's. Well, it is Derrida!

Speaking of which, we should mention that we butchered Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi's name in an entry last week, but like him, we refuse to apologize for any wrong-doings even if they are painfully obvious (unless, you can sue us and then of course, we will send you a dozen roses from FTD).

Derrida, who was the subject of a documentary film with his name in 2002, was born in Algeria as were many French intellectuals and cultural icons, including the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent.

The French philosopher is known for developing the critical theory known as 'deconstruction' and his work has been associated with post-structuralism and post-modern philosophy.

We also gather that former president George W. Bush has read a lot of Derrida's works and is a great admirer of his (that is a joke, but I think even my Republican friends like Bill Kristol* will find it amusing).

Here is our quote from Derrida:

"I never give in to the temptation of being difficult just for the sake of being difficult. That would be ridiculous."

We must profess that since there is a tuxedo cat named "Gizmo" roaming around here in the office, that we really like this photo, that slightly reminds us of Marlan Brando's pose in "The Godfather."

*-I am not actually friends with the neo-con intellectual Bill Kristol, who founded "The Weekly Standard" which I assume is to the 'far-left' of "Soldier of Fortune" magazine, but he did, much to my shock, personally answer an email (it was actually not political in nature even though I have much different views than Kristol) that I had assumed one of his associates would read. So, I do feel obliged to say nice things about him which might be harder to do if I read his columns, which I presume are rather negative towards President Barack Obama.

Special Quote of the Day--Happy Bastille Day!

Today, we celebrate Bastill Day, the Fourth of July for France with a quip from French philisopher Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) who was the subject of the documentary film "Derrida."

July 14th is also a day of celebration in Azerbaijan, though we aren't exactly sure why?!:

"Everything is arranged so that it can be this way, that is what is called culture."

SIDEBAR: The Chapel Hill, NC-based rock band Southern Culture on the Skids, who are known for throwing fried chicken and Little Debbie oatmeal pies to the audience, will be playing several dates out West, including a Sept. 3 show at The Echo in L.A. and a Sept. 16 show at The Rhythm Room in Phoenix.