Still reading through journals of my past . Here is something I wrote. Since there is no attribution, I believe the words are my own:
“To be ourselves, we must complete ourselves.”
I think this is something I’ve always felt, even when I was too young to know this is what I was feeling. Even at this stage of life, I feel like I’m not finished becoming me, and if incarnation is a fact, perhaps this continues into the next life. I hope so, because then there is hope for the whole world, including some of its largest villains. Here is another quote from the same page–one in which I was doing a lot of philosophizing.
Those who are governed by reason desire nothing for themselves which they do not also desire for the rest of mankind.
Next to it, I scribbled in pencil, “Baruch Spinoza,” which makes me think that either the quote was his or something I wrote after reading something he had written. I looked it up and it is, indeed a short version of what he had written.
And, one last intriguing quote, unattributed, which I’d like to have your comments on:
Conscience is not innate, but acquired, and varies with geography.
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 
LOVE that final quote!
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Love this-To be ourselves, we must complete ourselves
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It gives hope and purpose, doesn’t it?
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Indeed!
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The last quote is about the cultural diversity and societal norms. I teach that.
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I’m glad you took it right. I was a bit afraid some people would take offense by it…but yes, cultural diversity is partially a product of geography and societal norms.
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But of course.
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Dolly said it for me – that pleases me greatly
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“Conscience” and “geography”… Key words in light of today’s Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action.
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So upsetting, these broad leaps backwards.
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If you mean by geography the ethical culture of a location, yep. As for whether or not it’s innate? I spend a lot of time watching animals and their conscience — which exists — is tied to their survival, not an abstract idea of right and wrong. I thought about that a lot in 2020/21, how much of the human conscience is also governed by the survival imperative and how an individual/culture understands “survival.”
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Very wise words Judy.
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