A few years ago I gathered the scraps of quotes, poems and inspirational bits and bobs I had floating about in various notebooks and cubby holes and decided to plonk them all in one place for easy reference, create my own Bible, something I could go to for inspiration and guidance and succour. There are poems, quotes from spiritual leaders like Thich Nhat Hann, things I heard on podcasts or movies, excerpts from novels, and even a few Tweets.
Whenever I read or hear something that makes me sit up, open my eyes a little wider, slow down and think, “this is important, I need to remember this”, I pop it in my green-covered notebook, knowing future me would want to feel that same tingle and joy again and again.
Consider writing your own holy book, or unholy book, your choice.

The foundational texts of Western civilization are on the reading list for St. John's College, where all students study the Great Books curriculum.

Nietzsche

a commonly held set of beliefs in young Americans:

1. A God exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth.
2. God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.
3. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
4. God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.
5. Good people go to heaven when they die.

• "moralistic" because it teaches that the goal is to be a moral person rather than to follow divine tenets
• "therapeutic deism" because the God is distant and only intervenes when needed to solve a problem

therapeutic usefulness of religion vs orthodox christianity

One thing I like about rationality is that it is flexible. It does not prescribe any particular object-level belief or action.

Turns out My Immortal is actually really, really good...

Interesting experiments in the self