神圣与凡俗

你没法用凡俗的语言来解释神圣的东西，但你可以用神圣的语言来讨论凡俗的东西。

无神论（唯物主义）意味着把死去的当成从未出生过。我不会这样想。通过接受神圣这一概念，你可以重新发明宗教。

如果你没法直接（不加分析地）辨认出神圣与凡俗之间的区别，那你永远不会知道宗教意味着什么。你也永远不会理解我们通常所谓的艺术。你没法理解任何东西。

过去，人们在工作日穿普通的衣服，到星期天祷告的时候换上正装，今天则正好相反。

为了彰显神圣跟凡俗之间的区别，每当跟咨询师、经济学家、哈佛商学院教授、记者之类的人发生任何接触（甚至包括邮件联系）之后，我都会仪式性地沐浴；这会让我感到自己得到了净化，清除了凡俗的玷染——直到下一次接触到这些人。

还没有被凡俗玷染的传媒就只剩下书籍了，你看到的其他传媒都试图通过广告来操控你。[1]

你可以用真话来替代谎言，但是神话只能用故事来替代。

神圣的东西都是不求回报的，凡俗的东西都是求回报的。[2]

历史上各种悲剧的源泉，无外乎混淆别人的“无条件”跟“有条件”。

饭店用食物吸引你，目的是卖给你酒；宗教用信仰吸引你，目的是卖给你规矩。人们可以理解神这个概念，但是不能理解暗藏的规矩、禁令和启示。

启示之一：绝食比限制食量更容易。你没法通过每天只吃一点点火腿，让自己“只是一点点”遵守宗教的饮食规矩。

要彻底戒掉报纸，只需要连续一年每天阅读上个星期的报纸。

[1]长时间接触传媒的经历让我发现，没有哪种传媒不是在（笨拙地）试图卖给你什么东西。让我信任的就只有书籍了。拥有一本书并不会彰显出人性的弱点，不会迎合我们的表现欲，让我们显得高人一等；书籍之外的商业运作才会腐蚀我们。

[2]例如，许多被誉为“无法贿赂”的人，只不过是贿赂起来太过昂贵而已。

THE SACRED AND THE PROFANE

You cannot express the holy in terms made for the profane, but you can discuss the profane in terms made for the holy.

Atheism (materialism) means treating the dead as if they were unborn. I won't. By accepting the sacred, you reinvent religion.

If you can't spontaneously detect (without analyzing) the difference between sacred and profane, you'll never know what religion means. You will also never figure out what we commonly call art. You will never understand anything.

People used to wear ordinary clothes weekdays and formal attire on Sunday. Today it is the exact reverse.

To mark a separation between holy and profane, I take a ritual bath after any contact, or correspondence (even emails) , with consultants, economists, Harvard Business School professors, journalists, and those in similarly depraved pursuits; I then feel and act purified from the profane until the next episode.

The book is the only medium left that hasn't been corrupted by the profane: everything else on your eyelids manipulates you with an ad.

You can replace lies with truth; but myth is only displaced with a narrative.

The sacred is all about unconditionals; the profane is all about conditionals.

The source of the tragic in history is in mistaking someone else's unconditional for conditional——and the reverse.

Restaurants get you in with food to sell you liquor; religions get you in with belief to sell you rules (e.g., avoid debt). People can understand the notion of God, not unexplained rules, interdicts, and categorical heuristics.

One categorical: it is easier to fast than diet. You cannot be "slightly" kosher or halal by only eating a small portion of ham.

To be completely cured of newspapers, spend a year reading the previous week's newspapers.