Today's words are from Nazim Hikmet (1902-1963), the Turkish poet, novelist and playwright who was repeatedly arrested for his political beliefs and spent much of his adult life in prison or in exile. ON LIVING Living is no laughing matter: you must live with great seriousness like a squirrel, for example— I mean without looking...
Here is a slide show of Wittgenstein quotes I put together for the online course, Investigating Wittgenstein. Happy pondering! Investigating Wittgenstein ...
These days, we could all use a a little Wittgenstein. Like this gem. One is often bewitched by a word. For example, by the word "know." Ludwig Wittgenstein ...
A little Walt Whitman for early Spring, 2017 “This is what you shall do; Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God,...
Here's a provocative take on anger from Fred Newman (who often advises us to look in the mirror). Dialogue 52. Dealing with Anger as Activity (From Psychological Investigations: A Clinician's Guide to Social Therapy) Student 1: I understand that you believe that expressing anger is a choice. I know that if I...
"Science, Spirituality and Social Therapy" is the theme of this quote from Fred Newman (from the book Psychological Investigations: A Clinician's Guide to Social Therapy, Edited by Lois Holzman & Rafael Mendez). I think there is a powerful and important connection between spirituality and human growth. For the bulk of this...
Fred Newman was a playwright and theatre director as well as a social therapist (and philosopher, community organizer and political strategist). He loved creating conversation on therapy and theatre. Here's excerpts from a class he gave on The Therapeutics of Theatre—in 2002, and just as relevant (maybe more so) 15 years later. My...
Groups. Individuals. Decisions. Descriptions. Science. Measurement. Therapy. Fred Newman brings them all together in "Undecidable Emotions (What is Social Therapy? And How is it Revolutionary?)". Here's an excerpt from the article published in 2003 in The Journal of Constructivist Psychology (Volume 16, pp. 215-232). You can read the article in...
For the next few months I’ll be using "Words to Ponder" to share some words of Fred Newman—the public philosopher, creator of social therapy, political activist, “architect” of a new progressivism, and my friend and intellectual partner for 35 years. I hope you are moved and/or provoked by them. The...
I love the sentiment here (from Failure: Why Science is So Successful by Stuart Firestein) You may have noticed that I have a fondness for quotes. It's not so much that I think quoting famous people gives a statement more authority or is less open to criticism. Rather, I think that just because...