The pursuit of mere happiness, without honesty being at the base of it, quickly leads to self-deception, self-indulgence, self-righteousness, narcissism, authoritarianism and ultimately, self-destruction.

Why? Because in the modern era, there is this prevalent notion that “to be happy” means to live without suffering, without sacrifice, without discomfort. Yet, life is all these things. By avoiding them, we are avoiding the most crucial work that our souls, minds and bodies need.

This is the aforementioned self-deception in its essence. And if we are incapable of being honest with ourselves, then most definitely we are incapable of being honest with others, and this is where all the troubles begin.

Honesty begins with introspection, with letting go of your image and your ego, looking deep inside of yourself, and finding out what really speaks to you, interests you, or bothers you. If you can do that, then you can also start being more honest with others, and more importantly, you can start taking action on those things. (May 28, 2024)

There can be no life without love. There can be no love without trust. There can be no trust without truth. Discard the pursuit of happiness. Engage in the pursuit of truth. For in truth, there is meaning and in meaning, there is beauty. (July 13, 2024)

"Beauty is truth, truth beauty, that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know." ― John Keats

“Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point 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.” ― Fyodor Dostoevsky

“The strength of a person's spirit would then be measured by how much 'truth' he could tolerate, or more precisely, to what extent he needs to have it diluted, disguised, sweetened, muted, falsified.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche

“Seeking the truth in this empire of lies is the greatest challenge for us in the moral bankruptcy in which we live.” ― Ron Paul