AIM Philosophical Thoughts:
Insights from the Gummy Posse/Mafia/Friends

Sometimes I try to make my AIM away messages more interactive, and pose questions for all my gummy friends! Here are some responses:

"Zorba came upon an old man planting an apricot seedling and asked why he, an old man, was planting a new tree. 'I live as though I would never die,' was his reply. 'And me, I live as though I might die tomorrow,' said Zorba, 'which one of us is right?'" (Nikos Kazantzakis)

DumbAsianBstrd:

Why does Zorba question the old man about planting a new tree? Because the planting of a new tree signifies the continuation of life, and one that is old is sadly short of exactly that. The two images clash in the mind of the younger man, who says he lives as if he shall die tomorrow. Who is right? I conjecture that it is neither. They are both wrong. The young man's insistance on the here and now obscures the long life ahead of him. His brashness and hastiness can only serve to create a cycle of unending dissatisfaction with what he has done, and where he has been. The old man, on the other hand, is foolish in his quest to live as if he shall live forever. This unwarranted euphoria hastens and accelerates the limited time he has left, and when he is at death's door, will he smile at the thought of planting a small tree, or frown at the thought that he could have done much more with the time he had left?

elements III: old man leaves his mark, Zorba lives life to the fullest perspective only. both can be achieved together, definitional perspective.

dimsum79: crazy....i usually don't really check info's often, but good thing i did this time huh?  well lets see....about the passage you wrote... hmm.....i think the old man has a good attitude on his outlook of life. I agree with the fact that once you plant a tree or leave any other memory of the individual, that person will always still be a part of the world.  Any type of contribution made, it could be an invention, a gift, a piece of advice....that one individual will continue to live on. Zorba is thinking less highly of himself and feels as though he has not made a great contribution to the world. As a result, feels he will be gone and forgotten once he passes on. I think it all depends on the outlook and self-respect each individual has for him/herself. I think the old man is right!

sc q jayce: You must both be right. You live every day as if the day were your last, as if you were to meet God.  Thus you live well and do what good must be done. But you must also live as though you would never die, to plan your goals in the future, and be able to carry them out.

cobyjc: zorba is right. you live as though you might die tomorrow cuz' you can die anyday and everyday...in a carcrash, a shooting (shudder~don't think about that), but........... the old man is right because you live as if you will never dieso you can live the best possible life ever and that's a good thing :-) so, in a weird way, both people are correct, and you should live for today and tomorrow and the near but distant future.

JWSU: hey GUMBO!! living as though you might die tomorrow would be the safer of the two.

goofsta: my answer iz livin as though you mite die tamorrow would be betta 4 mi. cuz lyk u'll alwayz wantta treat everi1 nicer if u dink ur gonna die. n pluz itz good ta die if god meant it cuz then u getta go ta heaven. itz just da part how u die. dat'z da painful part ;-)

"You never know the worth of water until the well is dry."

One thing you have learned to never take granted is..._________. (fill in the blank! tell me why!) =)

CreoS4: life - because it's too short as it is...

DumbAsianBstrd: One thing you have learned to never take granted is...poop.  It smells bad and looks gross, but if you don't get it out of your body, it can make you feel sick!

sc q jayce: Gum gums. One thing you have learned to never take granted is the way others act... because maybe I am just like them. . .

Yeehah333: ouch, hard question…gift of life...should be self-explanatory…OK, even though it's quite obvious, but since you must ask of me...one thing that i try never to take for granted is the gift of eternal life.  i know that we don't deserve it and we all have sinned etc., but God loves us so much, that He gives us another chance, and another, and another.  And though we stumble again and again, and we cry back to him, on our knees, like the prodigal son, He, like the father, runs to him and gives us His great coat and throws one gigantic "party."

HKingBull2: "You never know the worth of water until the well is dry." One thing you have learned to never take granted is...tortoises...Because one day it's there and the next day it disappears, I guess it runs faster than I thought...=(