SpiritualFamily.Net: One World Philosophy

Andre Gendron on gratitude

Paul Kemp Administrator — Wed, 20 May 2026 17:52:33 +0000

Andre Gendron on gratitude

Does your gratitude usually depend on life cooperating with you?

In the world, gratitude is often treated as a mood, a habit, or a useful mindset for feeling better. We are encouraged to count our blessings to feel calmer, more positive, or more at peace. That can be helpful.

But much of the time, this gratitude remains conditional.

I am grateful because something went well.

Because I received what I wanted.

Because I avoided what I feared.

That kind of gratitude can be beautiful, but it can also remain tied to the ego’s accounting system, in which peace depends on outcomes.

There is another kind of gratitude.

Not gratitude because everything looks right on the outside, but gratitude because something true remains untouched within us.

It is the quiet recognition that our safety, innocence, and wholeness were never actually taken from us. Even in difficult moments, there is a place within us that has not been damaged by the story.

This deeper gratitude does not deny pain or force positivity. It simply opens the door to another way of seeing.

Worldly gratitude says,

“Life is good when it gives me what I want.”

Deeper gratitude says,

“I am whole already, and I am willing to see this moment through love.”

A simple way to feel the difference is to notice whether gratitude makes you more dependent on circumstances — or more free of them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXDMoiEkyuQ

COMPARE, by Tom Allen: Most institutions demand unqualified faith; but the institution of science makes skepticism a virtue

Paul Kemp Administrator — Tue, 31 Oct 2017 02:00:25 +0000

COMPARE, by Tom Allen:

Most institutions demand unqualified faith; but the institution of science makes skepticism a virtue.
--Robert King Merton, sociologist (1910-2003)

UB (102:1.3) The more of science you know, the less sure you can be; the more of religion you have, the more certain you are.

Robert King Merton was an American sociologist. He spent most of his career teaching at Columbia University, where he attained the rank of University Professor. In 1994 he was awarded the National Medal of Science for his contributions to the field and for having founded the sociology of science. He is considered a founding father of modern sociology.

Merton developed notable concepts such as "unintended consequences", the "reference group", and "role strain", but is perhaps best known for the terms "role model" and "self-fulfilling prophecy". A central element of modern sociological, political, and economic theory, the "self-fulfilling prophecy" is a process whereby a belief or expectation, correct or incorrect, affects the outcome of a situation or the way a person or group will behave.

Merton's work on the "role model" first appeared in a study on the socialization of medical students at Columbia University. The term grew from his theory of the reference group, the group to which individuals compare themselves but to which they do not necessarily belong. Social roles were central to Merton's theory of social groups. Merton emphasized that, rather than a person assuming one role and one status, they have a status set in the social structure that has, attached to it, a whole set of expected behaviors.

Socrates Was One Of The Smartest People Who Ever Lived. Here Are Some Of His Most Important Quotes!

Jacob Godwins — Wed, 24 May 2017 00:20:57 +0000

Socrates Was One Of The Smartest People Who Ever Lived. Here Are Some Of His Most Important Quotes!

Wisdom begins in wonder.
- Socrates

I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.
- Socrates

Be as you wish to seem.
- Socrates

Beware the barrenness of a busy life.
- Socrates

The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.
- Socrates

To find yourself, think for yourself.
- Socrates

He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.
- Socrates

It’s not living that matters, but living rightly.
- Socrates

The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.
- Socrates

To move the world we must first move ourselves.
- Socrates

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.
- Socrates

The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.
- Socrates

Let him who would move the world, first move himself.
- Socrates

Know Thyself.
- Socrates

“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” ―Socrates

Socrates believed that philosophy should achieve practical results for the greater well being of society. He strongly believed that human choice was motivated by the desire for happiness. He believed this could be achieved by truly knowing ourselves and the greater we know ourselves the greater the ability to make choices that will bring us the everlasting happiness we desire.