Nature of passion

I comb and look for gems in everything people write. Memorable sentences in your stay with me. They enrich my thoughts and become a part of me. That is what learning means.

Not everybody on this planet has passion if by passion we mean fervor, enthusiam, ardor. Look around you. Most humans go through life listlessly, even aimlessly, without zest. They live in a manner as if they are waiting for Death to arrive and take them from the quiet miserable, insipid existence they are having.

Most humans live a life no different from that of animals, totally driven by biological imperatives, and completely bereft of higher ideals. That's my indictment of the human race, my fellow countrymen included. My indictment may smack of elitism and arrogance, but once you look past the initial shock that it caused, and reflect on it, I am confident that you will agree with me.

Most humans are sheep. They cannot think for themselves. They don't know how to get to the truth. They have to rely on others to tell them what truth is. They are slaves. And unscrupulous and power-hungry politicians and "religious" leaders pounce on them and take advantage of them. I am not saying all politicians and those who assume leadership roles in religion are unscrupulous and power-hungry, but most are---Hitler and Pat Robertson are the prime examples.

The good, the caring in this world are always in the minority because it takes work to be good and caring. It takes effort to transcend our animal heritage of selfishness, ruthlessness, and exploitation. It takes courage also. Le Cong Dinh, Le Thi Cong Nhan, and like-minded dissidents are good because they care enough about Vietnam, about us, to the point they became courageous and they spoke up at their own personal risks. And they are paying for their courage with their being deprived of liberty. They are in jail! They have passion, the right one. They are real humans, living an authentic existence while most of us just run our mouths on a daily basis and yet are doing absolutely nothing for Vietnam. We are cowards, in every sense of the word. I even advance a thesis that lives of cowards are not even worth living because those lives lack dignity. I struggle everyday with a thought if my life indeed has any meaning and dignity, if I am indeed a coward,
full of sound and fury, and yet doing nothing for Vietnam I profess to love. I struggle with the feeling whether or not I am a hypocrite.

I speak like a man possessed. And I am possessed by a fear and a struggle not to be a sheep, a coward, and a hypocrite. I am a man of many fears and struggles.


Without passion, one remains a nobody, a run of the mill, a mediocrity. The key thing is to have right passion, the right cause.

Everybody goes through life only once, contrary to all the wishful thinking and myths and brainwashing. We need to learn to live life a bit dangerously, a little on the edge. To play it safe often means not to know fully the meaning of life. Life is not how long we live it, but how we live it. The only way I know how to do it is to live fully, to the brim, fearlessly and yet responsibly. Also it helps if we learn to be true to ourselves and to others. Sooner or later, everybody would figure out who we are. So, the best way to deal with others is not to be who we are not since hypocrisy is despicable and cowardly. Nobody respects noise-making cowards. If cowardice is within our constitution, our make-up, it's far better to be a quiet coward than a noisy one. Noise attracts attention and creates expectation. Unmet expectations lead to contempt.