I often think about last words and what I would say when my time comes. Would mine be poignant, like William James’s: “These, then, are my last words to you. Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact”—or ironic, like John Adams’s in 1826: […]
Last semester, I authored an opinion editorial titled “A Commentary on Conservatism,” in which I, borrowing the words of Sir Roger Scruton, described the ideology as a “philosophy of love.” This is a sentiment I still hold to be true. The title of a “philosophy of love” doesn’t solely belong to conservatism but is […]
What does it mean to show one’s existence? What mark can one make as proof of their time on Earth? These are broad questions with no definitive answers. Nonetheless, we ponder these questions as we age, as every moment in life seems more important than the last. It is this tension between impermanence and the […]
I, like many other teenagers, spend far too much time on TikTok, consuming copious amounts of AI slop and content so mind-numbingly stupid it almost makes my lectures seem interesting … almost. However, amongst all the OOTDs (Outfits-of-the-Day) and food reviews, some gems make you stay beyond the 0.2 seconds it takes to scroll. I […]
“It’s one thing to be looked at, and another to be seen.” These words come from Caleb Azumah Nelson’s “Open Water” and speak to a question I’ve found myself grappling with this semester. What does it mean to be seen? I have a running bit with some of my close friends where, if we spot […]
“You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on. […]
The late English philosopher, Sir Roger Scruton, spoke on conservatism in a 2017 lecture, describing a conservative as “someone who has found something to love and wants to retain it.” He then went on to define it, more generally, as a “philosophy of love.” Although I’m sure this will be perceived as controversial, especially on […]
Man was not made to inherit the stars but to be stewards of the Earth. “We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” These words, spoken by President John F. Kennedy in […]
Describing my gap year as an annus horribilis is cruelly ironic, but given the circumstances surrounding it, it is an accurate reflection of what was the most tumultuous year of my life. The phrase annus horribilis itself was brought to prominence by Queen Elizabeth II in her own reflections on the year 1992, which she […]
Sports are often idealized as a great unifier, existing in a vacuum away from the noise of politics and the stressors of everyday life. To an extent, I agree. There is something sacred about turning on the television or going outside with a ball in hand to escape the seemingly collapsing world around us. That […]
