The viable secrets to spare us from endless gridlock and its aftereffects and progressive darkness

[QuickHitCurepon]

Of course, it is a big job. Never mind that. You might be surprised how interesting this search might turn out... If we compare hard enough the greatest works, literature, science, etc., they may hold ALL the critical keys to break this logjam we are in and armed with knowledge and wisdom, finally force our leaders, both political and commercial, to admit they have IMHO more than 50% of the solutions we need. They keep all the best solutions to themselves out of selfishness, devilishly waiting for a day, when each of them can take the few precious secrets they have to the bank. Yes, we are stuck in a virtual holding pattern.

Even the movers and shakers, who already are rich, will not give out the simple yet sophisticated secrets, which can make our country work like a well-oiled machine. Look at the world crumbling down around us, but our leaders are oblivious and only see dollar signs. Surely they will not really help us, other than to thrill us in their campaigns. They make good money, but greed makes them tenaciously grab onto and quash every vitally important idea that comes their way. I would not put it pass them they even patent the ideas as thinly veiled inventions.

excerpts from tolkien

Pippin pressed forward as they passed under the lamp beneath the gate-arch, and when he saw the pale face of Faramir he caught his breath. It was the face of one who has been assailed by a great fear or anguish, but has mastered it and now is quiet. Proud and grave he stood for a moment as he spoke to the guard, and Pippin gazing at him saw how closely he resembled his brother Boromir – whom Pippin had liked from the first, admiring the great man’s lordly but kindly manner. Yet suddenly for Faramir his heart was strangely moved with a feeling that he had not known before. Here was one with an air of high nobility such as Aragorn at times revealed, less high perhaps, yet also less incalculable and remote: one of the Kings of Men born into a later time, but touched with the wisdom and sadness of the Elder Race. He knew now why Beregond spoke his name with love. He was a captain that men would follow, that he would follow, even under the shadow of the black wings.

–J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, “The Siege of Gondor”

 

[QuickHitCurepon]

Scion of Cyador - Jr | Catalog, Read fragments, Buy, Reviews, Atebook

L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
Scion of Cyador

Lorn'alt, Cyad Overcaptain, Mirror Lancers
I​

If Cyador be the paradox of Candor, and surround that paradox be indeed the duty of each of the Magi'i of the quarter, then how must each Magus approach that duty so as to support the way to the steps of Paradise?

One scholar magus might say, "Support the Emperor of Light for he is the one who must balance the Mirror Lancers and the Magi'i against each other, and against the growing might of the merchant clans, who know but for the greed of gold and the pleasures of the moment."

A magus who tends the chaos-towers might declare, "Take care that the chaos-towers endure while they may, for without towers, Cyador is no more than any other land set upon the world."

Still another might claim, "Set forth rules for the Magi'i that they may lead all by their example and purity of devotion to chaos and the people who revere it."

For all the Magi'i descended from those of the Rational Stars, the ways in which the duty of a magus could be set forth are myriad, and like unto chaos itself, often resembling itself, yet never the same and always changing. Each magus, from the most to the least devoted, will have a vision of that duty. Some will hold that by increasing their personal mastery of chaos, they will serve Cyador, the Magi'i, and chaos in the best fashion possible. Others will declare that mastery of chaos must always serve others first, for the magus who places himself before duty will always be corrupted into believing that what is good for him is good for all.

Yet neither be right, for a magus who serves only others will fly from one master to another, for each who asks of him becomes a master. A magus who elevates his mastery above all, would make all others his servant. Thus, a magus must be neither master nor servant, but one who walks the narrow path between. A magus without dedication to chaos will have no soul, and one who worships it blindly, no sense.

That dilemma sets forth the true paradox of the Magi'i, that we must master chaos without being mastered by it.​

Paradox of Empire, Bern'elth, Magus First, Cyad, 157 A.F.