Quotes About Chaos

The roots of the discontent are internal, and each person must untangle them personally, with his or her own power. The shields that have worked in the past—the order that religion, patriotism, ethnic traditions, and habits instilled by social classes used to provide—are no longer effective for increasing numbers of people who feel exposed to the harsh winds of chaos.

Even pain is better than the chaos that seeps into an unfocused mind. Hurting oneself, whether physically or emotionally, ensures that attention can be focused on something that, although painful, is at least controllable—since we are the ones causing it.

Contrary to what we tend to assume, the normal state of the mind is chaos.

Cultures are defensive constructions against chaos, designed to reduce the impact of randomness on experience. They

One of the major functions of every culture has been to shield its members from chaos, to reassure them of their importance and ultimate success.

The universe is not hostile, nor yet is it friendly," in the words of J. H. Holmes. "It is simply indifferent." Chaos

Cultures are defensive constructions against chaos, designed to reduce the impact of randomness on experience.

Entropy is the normal state of consciousness—a condition that is neither useful nor enjoyable. To

The same effect can be achieved in different ways, either through perfecting a severe mental discipline as in Yoga or through cultivating constant spontaneity as in Zen. But the intended result is identical: to free inner life from the threat of chaos, on the one hand, and from the rigid conditioning of biological urges, on the other, and hence to become independent from the social controls that exploit both.

The normal condition of the mind is chaos. Only when involved in a goal-directed activity does it acquire order and positive moods.

without concentration, a complex activity breaks down into chaos.

In order to survive, cultures must eliminate most of the new ideas their members produce. Cultures are conservative, and for good reason. No culture could assimilate all the novelty people produce without dissolving into chaos.

Crazy people will always be present in our lives.

Freedom without discipline feels like chaos, and some of the most stifling environments are those where there is freedom without a framework of discipline. Likewise, discipline without freedom feels constricting, and will likely lead to rebellion once a child gets frustrated enough with the lack of freedom. In both cases, the result is fear.

Maybe madmen always rule. Maybe that's all there are.

It is generally not possible simply to maintain a level of process performance. A process will tend to erode no matter what, even if a standard is defined, explained to everyone, and posted. […] Any organized process naturally tends to decline to a chaotic state if we leave it alone. […] A process is either slipping back or being improved.«

The urge for destruction is also a creative urge.

Hell is Whole Foods on a Sunday. It's hordes of moms in lightweight fleeces pushing one another out of the way to get to bins of dry lentils.

The rantings of mad people do not yield greater freedom.

The foe loves destruction and misery.

Whatever the answer, one senses one thing clearly: the man from whose mind this chaotic vision emanated did not purchase his "outlook on life" in a dime store, but came into this chapel like a meteor and left behind him the smell of cosmic sulphur...And century after century men come here bleating like goats, staring wide eyed at these testimonies of human passion and intelligence...

It's a veritable Tower of Babylon, The way you people babble on.

But I've been the queen of crazy for the last few months. The last year, really. Who am I kidding? My entire life I've been at the epicenter of crazy. I am the hurricane's eye.

They say, hell, let the earth become a vast hell destroying killing and setting fire to the buildings of men, to theatres, national assemblies, to museums, libraries, prisons, psychiatric hospitals, old and new, from which they free the slaves.