A by-product of the arts of peace. The most menacing political condition is a period of international amity. The student of history who has not been taught to expect the unexpected may justly boast himself inaccessible to the light. "In time of peace prepare for war" has a deeper meaning than is commonly discerned; it means, not merely that all things earthly have an end — that change is the one immutable and eternal law — but that the soil of peace is thickly sown with the seeds of war and singularly suited to their germination and growth. It was when Kubla Khan had decreed his "stately pleasure dome" — when, that is to say, there were peace and fat feasting in Xanadu — that he

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heard from afar
Ancestral voices prophesying war.

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One of the greatest of poets, Coleridge was one of the wisest of men, and it was not for nothing that he read us this parable. Let us have a little less of "hands across the sea," and a little more of that elemental distrust that is the security of nations. War loves to come like a thief in the night; professions of eternal amity provide the night.

(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

Fantasy is an exercise bicycle for the mind. It might not take you anywhere, but it tones up the muscles that can.
(also: bicycle)

The loss of one's soul; also the place in which it can be found.
(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

(n.) the academic discipline of measuring time, usually making clocks.

... you thought it was something else. Admit it.

n. Privation of that which we had, or had not. Thus, in the latter sense, it is said of a defeated candidate that he "lost his election"; and of that eminent man, the poet Gilder, that he has "lost his mind." It is in the former and more legitimate sense, that the word is used in the famous epitaph:

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Here Huntington's ashes long have lain
Whose loss is our own eternal gain,
For while he exercised all his powers
Whatever he gained, the loss was ours.

(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

(n.) a deep story, which, when measured against literal-mindedness, seems a lie (hence the popular use of the term 'myth' to indicate a falsehood). a story children will ask to hear again and again, not because they are stupid or have low standards, but because they are absorbing cultural and existential patterns.

hear my vow,
I reclaim this term 'myth',
here and now!

(also: vow)
(also: oath)

(also: stake-claiming flag)
(also: flag on the moon)

common three-leaved plant famous for sometimes having four leaves

(noun):maybe

both wonderful and depressing

A distance where you can recognize details and how the subject you face works.

being a bystander, i.e. being an aggressor

(n.) the great and noble thing we must all strive for, which we lack only because we're bogged down by petty arguments

except for when healthy disagreement is a good thing and we would see that if we weren't so bogged down by lack of ideological diversity

so basically everything is completely wrong either way. see order and chaos

A country in the middle of europe with a, for lack of a better term, troubled history during the 20th century.
It also is a founding member of the European Union.

(also: European Union)

An instinct to approach and deal with things in uncommon ways. Two dimensions measure one's creativity - originality and initiative, which can in this order be described as quality and quantity.

(n.) someone best left alone in a room with lots of beakers and chalkboards in the hopes that they'll accidentally figure out how to make nuclear weapons. or root beer. whichever.

(n.) a madonna who is depicted with dark skin. found from Italy to France, to Spain, to Philippines, to South America. a patron saint of outsiders, often.
"Research into the Black Madonna phenomenon is limited due to a wide consensus among scholars that the dark-skinned aspect was unintentional." something in art, something on the outskirts of mainstream religion, found across *many* instances -- unintentional? the silliest thing I've read in some time now! it may be metaphorical & symbolic, or it may be literal, or (most definitely) it may vary across the cities and centuries, but it sure is intentional. and that outskirts/ outsider thing -- yea, you bet it is addressing an otherwise-unfulfilled need of the community.

Guadalupe, Spain (crying olive oil):

Poland:

Prague:


https://www.matthewfox.org/blog/the-return-of-the-black-madonna-a-sign-of-our-times-or-how-the-black-madonna-is-shaking-us-up-for-the-twenty-first-century
https://podcastaddict.com/episode/123051483
https://www.missmelindasmetaphysicalservices.com/blog/cult-black-madonna-our-lady-guadalupe
http://libgen.rs/search.php?req=black+madonna&lg_topic=libgen&open=0&view=simple&res=25&phrase=1&column=def
https://www.goodreads.com/search?page=1&q=black+madonna&qid=WPqLt3m3OA&tab=books

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/793242.Longing_for_Darkness
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1197067.The_Black_Madonna_In_Latin_America_And_Europe
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28648036-faces-of-the-black-madonna

an eastern european nation known for the strong bones of its peasant women and the exceptional quality of its turnips

i suppose i could discuss this topic here, but are you certain you could trust anything i'd say?

In the manner of a traveling railroad magnate.
(also: The Devil's Dictionary)

(n.) bravery; ability to act in the face of fear, pain or grief

among other things this quality is believed to make a king of a slave, induce the flag on the mast to wave, and put the 'ape' in 'apricot'