Sayings from the book Ground Suck by Jack Stamps

Read the book for the story behind each quote.

"Most of the things we do to protect ourselves are the very things that weaken us."

"Safety is not the same as strength."

"Why are we buying so much stuff?"

"Perhaps it is not the supply chain that is broken. It just might be us."

"Where have all the citizens gone?"

"Preferences are not neutral. They are offerings."

"We have lost our reverence because we have come to love our tools."

"Do we invent tools or do they invent us?"

"Tools promise control. Reverence begins where control ends."

"Efficiency and fragility are strongly correlated."

"Complexity is the enemy of reliable software."

"We are entering into an era where we cannot expect software to work as advertised."

"Getting ready to make soup. Nineteen dollars for at least ten bowls."

"Why do people spend money at restaurants? They must be very rich"

"Knowing how much is enough."

"What's my part in it?"

"Blame was the original sin"

"We only ever talk about ourselves"

"Awareness is curative"

"Pause when agitated."

"Meditation is the practice of pausing and praying."

"Expectations are the seeds of resentments which in turn grow into relapses."

"Meditation on the Divine is the pathway from anxiety to gratitude."

"Expectations rob us of the joy that is always present right here right now when we distance ourselves from them"

"Meditation is the practice of noticing our expectations and letting them go by simply trusting God with them."

"Silence is the drowning pool for expectations."

"Expectations are the root cause of stress and anxiety."

"As long as you seek for something you will get the shadow of reality and not reality itself."

"Expectations separate one from seeing the wonder that is always available."

"What am I expecting right now? What would happen if I let go of it?"

"To set up what you like against what you dislike is the disease of the mind."

"We become what we practice."

"We have a choice of which mind to wear."

"There's always a critic."

"Which mind am I wearing? What would B do right now?"

"REMEMBER IT IS POISON ALWAYS."

"Make sure you are not drinking alcohol or doing drugs. Otherwise the above hints won't work."

"This is obvious ... a drunken mind wanders aimlessly."

"Meditation is just barrier removal. Don't look for something new."

"Resist no thought. Recoil from no thought. Remember no thought."

"Remember the silence."

"Addiction isn't an enemy but a messenger."

"Just because we drink it does not make us incapable of learning how to behave ... when drugs and alcohol are removed we come to use that learning in the best of ways."

"Eat good food exercise and be nice."

"oh ... and couple up ... and have a spiritual practice."

"They will help with the 'be nice' part."

"Backbiting destroys trust in relationships whether personal or professional."

"I can't vote for anyone who backbites. How could I possibly trust them?"

"Learn how to be a gracious loser."

"My real vote isn't on a ballot it's with my wallet."

"If they advertise it - don't buy it."

"We are citizens with rights not consumers that shop till we drop."

"At long last we may find deep meaning in loving God and loving our brothers as ourselves."

"Service is work."

"Life is a miracle."

"Yes. Choices."

"Most life coaches only deal with secular issues not the long term matter."

"Knowing how much is enough."

"Having a purpose in life that ultimately serves others."

"Remembering that there is an afterlife and what we do here matters."

"Clearly our real purpose here in this short life is not to shop till we drop nor to become better at tasks that feed clothe or amuse us."

"Could it be that we will at last pay attention to the many of God's prophets?"

"At long last we may find deep meaning in loving God and loving our brothers as ourselves."

"TRUE FORGIVENESS IS REALIZING THAT THERE IS NOTHING TO FORGIVE."

"Out beyond the ideas of wrongdoing and righting there is a field. I'll meet you there."

"When you see the acts of men see only God acting. Then who is to blame and who is to forgive."

"Can the end be simple"

"When you keep thinking about sense objects attachment comes."

"Attachment breeds desire the lust of possessions that burns to anger."

"Anger clouds judgement. You can no longer learn from past mistakes."

"Lost is the power to choose between what is wise and what is unwise and you life is an utter waste."

"I've been detached dear sensei."

"Am I releasing or am I disappearing?"

"I'm morose about your leaving. Me too right now. I'm actually mad a little. It's going to be a big change for all of us. I know. I know."

"What would happen if I stopped treating big change as a personal insult?"

"How easy is it to slip into the idea that I won the things around me and that I can control them. Whenever I remember this my heart rests."

"Such is God your Lord there is no god except He the Creator of all things. You shall worship Him alone. He is in control of all things."

"Can my heart rest even while the outcome stays uncertain?"

"We read the 9th step promises at pretty much every AA meeting ... I don't care much for them as they talk about comparison not unity."

"I've taken a moment to rewrite them in a more unified (spiritual) way. Let me know what you think."

"We will be so utterly free that we will lose interest in being happy."

"We have come to see that the self is an illusion."

"We came to see that God alone is."

"We have both feet planted in the present knowing that the past is but a bad dream and has lost all meaning to us."

"We are not separate from Serenity and Peace."

"We have come to see that the difficulties in life have taught us charity."

"We have come to realize that our feelings are not who we are."

"We have come to see that there are no others."

"We see only God - The Creator The initiator The Designer."

"Fear comes from the idea of separation. Forgiveness is the answer."

"We wait for life to come to us - empty and open to the surprise that each moment brings."

"Which version of the promises am I living today?"

"Can I let that be enough?"

"Wonderful homemade food. This woman made everything and brought it for dinner. A rare thing indeed."

"Blessed are You Lord our God King of the Universe."

"For the gift of simply being."

"Amen."

"I think what I do is Escapism Praying."

"All prayer is good. It is at the root a sign of surrender and trust."

"Personal respite enables surrender and trust."

"Am I seeking rest or am I seeking numbness?"

"Pause when agitated. Awareness is curative. Every front has a back. Choose again."

"Whenever I remember this my heart rests."

"Be nice. Service is work"

"The truth is what bring peace or relaxation or a sense of belonging or a sense of oneness or wonder or awe."

"I'm a first-derivative guy."

"The truth puts you back in that place of least effort."

"The natural state of the mind is a resting state."

"Just enjoy the moment and get the next ball over the net."

"We all need to have a seat at the table."

"Without purpose there is not relationship."

"We're observing the rules of least effort. We're just doing it."

"What else is aging except a steady correction in what you can pretend"

"The truth of a thing is simply what it does for you."