The Italian scholar and poet, Francesca Petrarcha (1304-1374) was known in English as Petrarch. He was a contemporary and friend of Dante and Boccacio. He popularized the works of the Roman poet Cicero. Some of his own poems were later put to music by Franz Liszt. Petrarch is sometimes given the credit for instituting the […]

When I sit down to write my weekly blog essay I often feel a little uncomfortable. I write about disparate things of which I have little knowledge and I suspect I am indulged by a readership who on many occasions is more well-versed in the subject matter than I am. As I get older I […]

During a discussion with one of my friends recently, he related how he had seen a journal (at the airport I think) advertising an article on its front cover titled something to the effect “Does a Gorilla Have a Soul?” This is an intriguing question. It may of course be unanswerable. (Remember my reference in […]

Many of you would remember the nursery rhyme round we used to sing in our school choirs. “Row, row, row your boat, Gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, Life is but a dream.” There are many interpretations of this little verse. It has more depth than we ever imagined when we were merely […]

In my little blog essays I have often talked about world-views. My rusted-on readers would know by now that a “world-view” is essentially a filter through which we view the world. Anais Nin’s famous quote, “We don’t see things they way they are; we see things the way we are,” alludes to this truth. The […]

Australia’s aging population is putting some strains on both our society and our economy. Many of our older workers are leaving the workforce resulting in a diminished tax base and a higher demand for health and welfare services. One of the strategies that both sides of politics is employing is to offer more inducements to […]

In his fabulous little book “Awareness” the Jesuit teacher Anthony de Mello differentiated the subjective self and the self as object by referring to them as “I” and “me” respectively. Not being able to make this differentiation causes us no end of troubles. The issue of dualism and its resolution has been a problem for […]

I have been a bit busy this week and haven’t been able to spend much time on a blog essay for you. But I thought I might discuss a few issues that relate to the world of work and where it is going. My good friend Charles Brass runs the Future of Work Foundation. We […]

I remember reading a quotation from someone eminent many years ago (my aging brain can’t quite grasp at this moment who) to the effect that it is a sign of psychological maturity to be able to hold two conflicting ideas in the mind at the same time. I know, myself, many times in my life […]

Last November, I visited Beijing and whilst there went to visit the “Forbidden City”. The Forbidden City was the residence of the Emperor except for some of the summer months when he went to his Summer Palace. The Forbidden City was a very luxurious place where the Chinese Emperor and his court and his concubines […]