“At last, his companions approached his bedside and implored him to name his successor: To whom do you leave your kingdom? They leaned close to hear his words. With great effort Alexander answered in a whisper: To the strongest. With that, the king of the world closed his eyes and breathed his last.”
― Alexander the Great
― Alexander the Great
“A surrogate activity is an activity that is directed toward an artificial goal that the individual pursues for the sake of the “fulfillment” that he gets from pursuing the goal, not because he needs to attain the goal itself. For instance, there is no practical motive for building enormous muscles, hitting a little ball into a hole or acquiring a complete series of postage stamps. Yet many people in our society devote themselves with passion to bodybuilding, golf or stamp-collecting. Some people are more “other-directed” than others, and therefore will more readily attach importance to a surrogate activity simply because the people around them treat it as important or because society tells them it is important. That is why some people get very serious about essentially trivial activities such as sports, or bridge, or chess, or arcane scholarly pursuits, whereas others who are more clear-sighted never see these things as anything but the surrogate activities that they are, and consequently never attach enough importance to them to satisfy their need for the power process in that way.”
― Industrial Society and Its Future
― Industrial Society and Its Future
“If my self was my dwelling, then my body resembled an orchard that surrounded it. I could either cultivate that orchard to its capacity or leave it for the weeds to run riot in.
There are some truths in this world that one cannot see unless one unbends one's posture.”
―
There are some truths in this world that one cannot see unless one unbends one's posture.”
―
“The groups of muscles that have become virtually unnecessary in modern life, though still a vital element of a man’s body, are obviously pointless from a practical point of view, and bulging muscles are as unnecessary as a classical education is to the majority of practical men. Muscles have gradually become something akin to classical Greek. To revive the dead language, the discipline of the steel was required; to change the silence of death into the eloquence of life, the aid of steel was essential.”
― Sun & Steel
― Sun & Steel
Survive the Jive Reading List
— 435 members
— last activity Jul 31, 2021 01:31PM
Recommended reading for knowledge of Indo-European spirituality. From esoteric and perennialist writings to academic texts on archaeology and history, ...more
Benmm18’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Benmm18’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
Benmm18 hasn't connected with their friends on Goodreads, yet.
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Benmm18
Lists liked by Benmm18






















