A tribute to Darius III

When I read about the war waged by Alexander the Great against the Persian Empire, I always feel sad. For its king, Darius III, Codomannus, was not an incompetent king, and by no means an incompetent general. He was just unlucky that he had to face the greatest European leader of the world of antiquity. [...]

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The Kingdom of Heaven

Recent comments by the Pope on the critical nature of Islam has once again ignited fiery debate about the attitude of Muslims towards other religions. You can take an exclusivist view, an inclusivist view, or even a pluralistic view -  but many remain convinced the Pope’s assessment on Islam was not entirely appropriate, yet in [...]

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Our most important lesson.

History is intimately linked with the development of philosophy. Philosophy is influenced greatly by the times. By no means should we attempt to revert back to the past. That is impractical as it is ignorant of the achievements of the modern contemporary world. Yet it is imperative that we do learn from the past. Those [...]

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Motivation: Achieving what you want to Achieve

People fail.
People fail at all sorts of things they want to achieve, from relatively trivial things like getting back into shape to things that may determine their future happiness, like a successful marriage or career.
Yet some suffer failure, but in the worst way – and that is giving up. It is abandonment of what Paulo [...]

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Do not be discouraged.

This passage is from Paulo Coelho’s book Manual of the Warrior of Light, which also happens to be one of my favourite books (pg 107):
“The warrior of light has learned that God uses solitude to teach us how to live with other people.
He uses rage to show us the infinite value of peace. He uses [...]

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Nerds Rock!

I consider myself a nerd. A nerd in academics, in martial arts, and in entertainment as well. I used to play Dungeons and Dragons (I even made a completely shitty campaign once) and I love the card game Magic: the Gathering. Recently I have become interested once again in DnD to the extent I have [...]

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R.I.P. Steve Irwin

Yesterday afternoon Steve Irwin, an Australian icon, was pierced in the heart by a stingray’s poisonous barb and died.
I did not watch Irwin often, nor did I think much of his over-the-top antics as an iconic Australian (I still never hear any Aussie say “Crikey” unless it’s in reference to him. Conversely, this catchphrase was [...]

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