“There are four kinds of homicide: felonious, excusable, justifiable, and praiseworthy.” - Ambrose Bierce

How do we judge who’s life is worth taking? When is killing someone justified? When is it a crime? When is it even a good thing? For every circumstance is there really a different understanding of right and wrong? We don’t pass judgement on the last three but following a guilty conviction, you are a felon?

Sure, the death of someone like osama bin laden would fall under that “praiseworthy” but how is fair to choose who’s killing will warrant jail time and who’s glory? Maybe if you’re carrying a badge you can shoot whoever you want, or maybe it was an accident - but manslaughter still gets you like 7-15; at least its not 25-life with no chance of parole (that would just suck). And if we think that each individual life has a different face value, seeing that one is okay to kill and the other not, then people who believe that God created all equal are allowed to say that abortion is murder but it’s okay to kill someone on death row and not contradict themselves? The world is a play on double standards and apparently people’s lives fall into this trivial category.

"Sit down, and put down everything that comes into your head and then you're a writer. '' Colette

"Sit down, and put down everything that comes into your head and then you're a writer. But an author is one who can judge, his own stuff's worth, without pity, and destroy most of it." Colette

For some weird reason, I read this quote through a figurative approach. Never heard of the quote '' You are the writer of your own destinity.'' Well, that's what I thought when I read this. I guess there's two type of people in this world: the writer and the author of destinity. A writer would be someone that lives day by day with a care-free living. Strong supporter of YOLO, you only live once, he is a hedonist that just waits on fate to change his living. But an author of life is the one that does not writes his destiny but meticulously designs it with his dreams, his goals and his passions. When life throws him lemon, he throws it back. He's more like a painter that fills the whole of a canvas to create something beautiful, something he designed.

Flo!!

"The truth will set you free, but not until it's finished with you." -David Wallace

I saw someone getting stabbed on the D train one time. I told no one. This is of course a lie but what if it was true. I would spend days or maybe months imprisoned by keeping my silence. I would contemplate whether it is my job as a New York City citizen to report it to the police or whether to pretend its nothing out of the ordinary like a proper New Yorker. An imaginary angel on my shoulder, whispering into my ear “confess the truth”, would torture me as much as the devil on the other shoulder with its pitchfork pricking in my ear “leave it be.” I would see myself outside my body and in the situation of the person getting stabbed. Having someone penetrating his knife into my gut is too gruesome. I'd avoid this image at all cost. I would think of someone else perhaps my mom as the victim. Now would I want someone to attest to her murder? I would. But no matter how much it hurts to think of this, I wouldn’t do anything, despite this hurting more.

-Katherine J

"Is not this the true romantic feeling - not to desire to escape life, but to prevent life from escaping you?" - Thomas Wolfe

Hopefully, this guy is not referring to the romance of love but the epic of it. The romance of life is a function of reality squared added to the square root of oblivious struggles and undefined restrictions - yes, I am a math freak - numbers which make less sense than a purple dinosaur singing "I Love You." Isn't a tyrannosaurus rex a carnivore? Shouldn't they be singing "I Taste You?"

Some sick imagination I'm caught in today, huh? My mind is running on four hours of sleep and I can't belief how I'm feeling like this. The front of my mind feels smashed down, like a pancake. The sides are using my ears as wings to fly to a stabler mind. The back of my mind feels as if it is drowning in thoughts and memories I can't even recognize.

I need coffee.

- Cynthia S.

"The truth will set you free".

Many times I have come upon the truth about my mistakes during a situation. I admit, I dislike hearing the truth, because sometimes the truth may hurt. But, then again, I realize that the truth is being told for many reasons. Such as, it is for my benefits to analyze what I did wrong or what I need to do, to make things better. Now, I believe that the truth behind a problem stays, but it will become a continuation towards the future. I can actually look back and say, "I had a problem similar like that, and I was told that I must think before doing things". That will set an example for me to progress in life without mistakes. Don't get me wrong, we all commit mistakes, but it doesn't hurt to learn from previous experiences to make a better and wise decision.

-C.M

"The truth will set you free.But not until it's finished with you"

The truth sometimes can get you into trouble, or a cause a unwanted situation. You know the saying, people can't handle the truth, well some people hold the truth to protect others from being criticized or from being judged. The truth doesn't even hold up in court on occasion, the truth never holds up with politicians, artists, athletes, and unfortunately your family. Depending on the matter, sometimes truth will sink your ship, the truth can get you out of a job if you do not play your cards properly. Not everyone is open and willing to accept the truth. NYPD doesn't rely mainly on truth, the NYC Department of Education is far from the truth. Question is, can you formulate a lie into a true statement? Is your local news station the truth? Was Paul Pierce the truth yesterday against the Knicks? Getting up early at 4:30am for this class, is sometimes not the truth, not the class I mean. But getting out of bed. The phrase "Stop Snitching" is truth driven, but can be portrayed in a negative manner, that can determine your life. Is it really righteous to tell the truth?


quis star.