The Official Website of Michael Corthell

“Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.” ― Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Frankenstein The world today was created by thought and can't be changed for the better without changing our thinking.

  I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights.  That is the way of a whole human being. - Abraham Lincoln The same spirit that inhabits all human beings resides in all animals. Are People Like Animals? I thought about what people do to each other. And I said to myself, “God wants people to see that they are like animals. The same thing happens to animals and to people—they die. People and animals have the same ‘breath.’ Is a dead animal different from a dead person? It is all so senseless! The bodies of people and animals end the same way. They came from the earth, and, in the end, they will go back to the earth. Who knows what happens to a person’s spirit? Who knows if a human’s spirit goes up to God while an animal’s spirit goes down into the ground?” - Solomon, Ecclesiastes 3

  “Out of clutter, find simplicity.” ― Albert Einstein Peace is much more than the opposite of war. Peace is accord. Peace is harmony. “All differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind,  because oneness is the secret of everything.” ― Swami Vivekananda

“That's the thing about freewill: Every decision we make is a choice against something as much as it is for something else.” ― Rebecca Serle Freewill at the level of human thinking is an illusion. The options you see, the thoughts you get and the options you choose from are all part of a hard script written in the heart of the Universe. 

“Thoughts Become Things... Choose The Good Ones!” ― Mike Dooley When you experience a beautiful moment as you go through your day memorialize it, honor it so you don't forget it. That's true gratitude.  Give it a try and the world will take on new meaning.

“If you think we can't change the world, it just means you're not one of those who will.” ― Jacque Fresco The human race and our planet have been entering a time of intense difficulty, trouble, and danger for sometime now. Climate change, caused by our activity has now become a crisis, and like all crises it must be met with swift action. We know what we must do, and if we don't do it we will all die. 

'The Big Lie' is a gross distortion or misrepresentation of the truth, used especially as a propaganda technique: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” The OSS psychological profile of Hitler described his use of the big lie: His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if yo

''Worrying is carrying tomorrow's load with today's strength- carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying doesn't empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.'' ― Corrie Ten Boom It's not time to worry yet, it never is.

  “Disease, sickness, and old age touch every family. Tragedy doesn't ask who you voted for. Health care is a basic human right.” — Senator Elizabeth Warren No mother or father should ever have to make the decision whether or not they can afford to save their child's life.

“How can a society that exists on instant mashed potatoes, packaged cake mixes, frozen dinners, and instant cameras teach patience to its young?” —Paul Sweeney Patience is not only the art of waiting. Patience is to be at peace no matter what happens, and being ready to take action and having faith that it will all work out in the end.

Be a Lamp “There is a LIGHT in this world. A healing spirit more powerful than any darkness we may encounter. We sometime lose sight of this force when there is suffering, and too much pain. Then suddenly, the spirit will emerge through the lives of ordinary people who hear a call and answer in extraordinary ways.” ― Richard Attenborough There is an ancient tribal proverb from India. It says, ''Before we can see properly we must first shed our tears to clear the way.''

  “You know, an old man like me can teach a young boy like you all the good things in life. But it takes a young boy like you to teach an old man like me to appreciate all the good things in life. I guess that’s what life’s all about.” ― Wilson Rawls, Summer of the Monkeys Your life is meant to be fun, and joyous, and fulfilling. There is nothing wrong with that.

  by Michael Corthell There are two primary ways of trying to live a good life. The first is living a life of Faith, that is believing in God and the other is living without belief in God. A secondary to this is, of course, being agnostic, which is still living without Faith—by not being committed to the Creator. ''The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.'' —Bertrand Russell Our relationship to the world is colored by whether or not we think there is a creative purpose for our lives. Looking past the theological belief how can we a achieve a good life in a practical, step by step way? Life Plan What do you value most? List all the people and things that you value. Prioritize your list. Take a good amount of time thinking about the things without which you couldn't live without. Determine your moral compass. What are your core values? Freedom, justice, altruism? Kindness, courage? Determine your moral code and ethics.

  ''If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment.'' ― Henry David Thoreau COMPENSATION    'One man is rich, but bored and another is poor, but happy'. 'One achieves great fame and fortune but then dies young, another is average but lives a long happy life'. A wealthy man can afford steak and lobster, but has a tender stomach, while a poor man eats plain foods with hearty appetite and enjoys good health. Or, a person may receive a huge salary, but has no time to spend with family. These compensations are called 'trade offs'. ''Senators and presidents have climbed so high with pain enough, not because they think the place specially agreeable, but as an apology for real worth, and to vindicate their manhood in our eyes. This conspicuous chair is their compensation to themselves for being of a poor, cold, hard nature.'' ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The ultimate cause of matter must be immaterial. The ultimate cause of entropy must be free of entropy. The ultimate cause of time must be outside time. The ultimate cause of space must be outside space. The ultimate cause of temperature must be without temperature. The ultimate cause of physical motion must be without physical motion. Why? Because everything on the left belongs to the temporal and contingent while everything on the right belongs to the eternal and necessary. Only the latter can explain the former. The former cannot explain themselves. The latter belong to the order of eternal truths.” ― Thomas Stark, God Is Mathematics: The Proofs of the Eternal Existence of Mathematics There is a common source for all things. The One. “Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this c

All effects in the Universe lead back to the creator: 1. Whatever begins to exist has a cause. 2. The Universe began to exist. 3. Therefore, the Universe had a cause. 4. The first cause, can have no cause, and therefore is eternal and is known by its creation as  GOD . by Michael Corthell There is a famous historical idiom , ''All roads lead to Rome.'' In the same way, ''All effects lead back to God'' is a pithy way to describe the first cause argument. ''Zeus, first cause, prime mover; for what thing without Zeus is done among mortals?''    ―Aeschylus One of the most famous arguments for the existence of a Creator were given by Saint Thomas Aquinas, called the "five ways". One of the five ways, the last, is the argument from design, which you can study here . The other four are versions of the first-cause argument, which we will look at briefly in this teaching. The argument is basic and

“Oh, it's delightful to have ambitions. I'm so glad I have such a lot. And there never seems to be any end to them-- that's the best of it. Just as soon as you attain to one ambition you see another one glittering higher up still. It does make life so interesting.” ― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables Ambition is a strange creature. It creeps up when you least expect it and keeps you running even when you want to stand still. 

Each person carries a  doctor inside their own mind.

“A man who can't bear to share his habits is a man who needs to quit them.” ― Stephen King, The Dark Tower No one is more miserable than the person who makes a habit of being indecisive.

  Forests and animal agriculture are vying for the same land and our Earth is dying. Meat producers  can pay more than those who work to preserve or restore the forests.   Doesn't this concern you?   See: VEGANISM PLUS THE RESOURCE-BASED ECONOMIC SYSTEM

“The most effective way to destroy people is to deny  and obliterate their own understanding of their history.” ― George Orwell For propaganda to work and work well it must be pared down to a very simple message. The propagandist then must pound on that message until the last person in the target audience understands what you want them to understand. A current example is MAGA.

The truth is that you already are what you are seeking. You are a single water molecule in the ocean of the Universe, which contains within itself the entire Universe. ''No man is an island'' English poet John Donne, writing in the 17th century, famously wrote that “no man is an island,” comparing people to countries, and arguing for the interconnectedness of all people with the Universe.

''The ego refuses to be distressed by the provocations of reality, to let itself be compelled to suffer. It insists that it cannot be affected by the traumas of the external world; it shows, in fact, that such traumas are no more than occasions for it to gain pleasure.'' ―  Sigmund Freud Marketing uses this 'reward myself for suffering' tendency in people very effectively in it's taglines: ''A hard earned thirst needs a big cold beer and the best cold beer is_________!''  “To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life.” ― W. Somerset Maugham, Books and You  

  “Religion is like a pair of shoes.....Find one that fits for you, but don't make me wear your shoes.” ― George Carlin However, everyone has the right not to tolerate the intolerant among us. Anyone teaching or preaching intolerance places themselves outside the law(moral and criminal).

What we owe future generations is NOT open for debate any longer. We owe our children clean air fresh water, a healthy planet -- a secure future.