The following “Observations” are excerpted from Chapter 2, We Humans,
We are each a cell
in the body politic.
The scales of justice
tip easily.
We are stimulated by diversity.
Problems often pale by comparison.
Our quick answers reveal us.
Our ears hear;
our eyes judge.
Older people wear wider shoes.
What we don’t know
far exceeds what we know.
Those that boast that they don’t
usually do.
We are strangers
even to ourselves.
We love to jabber
about each other.
The smell of cooking
makes a house a home.
Men are the most patient
when they are shaving.
Rapid metabolism is the bane
of weight-loss clinics.
Emotional wounds can be
the most painful of all.
Capitalism has no heart.
We each have our own agenda.
The verbose need to chatter.
Marriage ritualizes spontaneity.
We fancy ourselves more elegant
than the most elegant of beasts.
Longevity has stature.
Sooner or later, we err.
We confuse wealth with security.
Husbands and wives
mumble to each other.
News sells.
Our conscience is the gatekeeper
of our mind.
Morning minds are like
a still lake before the first ripple.
Exploitation is the child
of ignorance.
We need each other to complain to.
The more stimulus,
the more response.
Little remains in the natural world
that we haven’t begun to destroy.
Competence is comforting.
The desperate are without options.
Great works are often
preceded by great errors.
We humans may be
unalterably self-destructive.
Parents love to boast
of their children’s intelligence.
Fortune changes hands.
We fear imaginary troubles.
The influence of money
is the bane of democracy.
We cannot know what
we have not experienced.
Death leaves an unfillable void.
Capitalism’s greatest rewards
are not for virtue.
Many have good hearts
but bad brains.
Our emotions are not
the womb of logic.
The wealthy and powerful
mine the poor and powerless.
Truth is veiled.
We are influenced easily.
Who we are is a product
of whom we’ve been.
Parents anchor.
We learn from each other.